How can we even begin to address the issue of finding a soul mate without first addressing the condition of our souls? Rev. Cheryl Lenzley asked the piercing question that just lives with me. Do we know the condition of our souls? Do we even care to know? As a result of hosting many “Soulmate” discussions, it seems for the most part, that our souls are troubled, anxious, and unfulfilled. Our souls are damaged from past hurts and childhood wounds. Studies show that one in four women and one in five men have been abused as a child. There’s a hole in our souls.
Many of us try to fill that hole with things like money, sex, work, material things, achievement and food. Yet, the hole never seems to get filled. As my friend Shannon Tanner said in this month’s featured article, “Sex, Lies and Chocolate Cake,” “We settle for the hot dog when what we really want is the hot man.” But what we really “want” and what we truly need are often two different things. As long as we move though life with unexamined, wounded souls, we will continue to have the same relationships over and over again.
A satisfied soul loathes the honeycomb but to a hungry soul, every bitter thing is sweet. Proverbs 27:7
A soul that is full and satisfied doesn’t yearn for anything and is not tempted by any sweet thing, no matter how hot he(she) is. But to the hungry soul, even “junk food” looks good because when you’re hungry you’ll eat just about anything. Friends, our souls are hungry. As I mentioned in my previous blog, we are what we eat. Unfortunately, the “food” that the media and our culture serve up is junk at best and poison at worst. But we’re famished, so we eat… every bitter thing. The result: spiritual diabetes.
So, what satisfies our souls? Nothing but the presence of God. We attempt to fill our souls from the outside in when it can only be filled from the inside out.
The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. Psalm 23:1-3
God literally restores our damaged souls to the souls they were created to be. Most of us don’t know who we really are underneath all our pain and disappointments. It is only though an intimate relationship with God that we discover our true selves. It is only through an intimate relationship with God that we learn how to have intimate relationships with others.
So, how do you even begin to develop an intimate relationship with God, you ask? The same way you develop an intimate relationship with anyone else. You open the door of your heart, invite Him in and spend time with Him.
Andrea Wiley
President, Clean Heart Productions
