Soul Sadness. It’s not a bad day it is not a body ache. Soul sadness is the emptiness down to our spiritual core.
Have you ever experienced a time of soul sadness? I am not talking about a day when you didn’t feel well or when you had a bad day. I am talking about emptiness down to your core. Sometimes in life we are doing what we feel certain God has called us, yet we sense we are in a deserted land. Paul became so discouraged he recorded the words “despaired of life.” There are no signs saying we are in the right place, there are no fruits we can actively see, and God seems to be in the distance.
What causes us sometimes to be where God has called us, yet we do not feel the joys of serving? I think somewhere along the way we loose our spiritual eyes. At some point, I think we only look through our fleshly vision, and cannot see what God sees. When we are looking through our fleshy eyes we see problems, disruptions, and one obstacle after another. Our very Soul becomes discouraged, and the devil even tempts us that it’s not worth it. However, if we take the time to look through our spiritual eyes, we might see it differently.
Let’s try to understand it through a story, or parable. Once a man came to a beautiful meadow with a huge oak tree, dandelions, green grass, and butterflies fluttering through the air. The scene was exquisite, and the man knew he would visit it often. A week later the man came back to visit his favorite spot, only to find it had been demolished. A farmer had plowed over the whole field, and nothing lay there but the bare earth. The green lush grass was gone; the butterflies and birds had moved on; the man stood with deep disappointment. How could someone ruin something so spectacular? The man walked away; however, when he returned he saw a beautiful crop of golden yellow corn. The birds had returned, and the sun shown brilliantly in the distance. The man realized when the ground was bare he could not see the vision of the farmer. What he thought the man had ruined was the preparation for a great harvest.
Sometimes in our life we cannot see the vision because we get stuck in all the ruts. All we see is the bare ground of the day-to-day grime we are facing. We forget to put on our spiritual glasses and recognize, just maybe, God is laying the ground- work for a great Harvest. I know it can be tough at times to do what God has called you to do. You may to sitting in an office, a classroom, a doctor’s office wondering: God what am I doing here? What is your plan for me? Sometimes people find it hard to believe, but ministers sit in their office and contemplate the same questions. Am I being effective, am I leading in the way you have asked? The truth is no matter what our job title, we can all loose sight of what we are living for and in essence who we are serving.
1 Corinthians 9:
22……….. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
One phrase can sum it all up: I do all this for the sake of the gospel. If we are doing it for any other reason, we will always be disappointed. But God has promised, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." I love what New Song sang, “When I can’t see his plan, When I can’t trace his hand, Trust his heart.” In the end it’s all about our Faith, and learning to trust someone besides our self. If we are currently having trouble seeing what God has planned for us because of all the turmoil caused by life, the verse in Daniel 10:12 should be reassuring for us. “From the first day you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard.” How do we regain our spiritual eyes? We do so by setting our hearts upon God. “set your heart” comes from a Hebrew transliteration “leb” meaning will, the inner man, heart” It is to intentionally focus on something, and turn toward it. For instance you do not have a pristine yard by never mowing, fertilizing, or pulling the weeds. We also will never see through our spiritual eyes if we do not invest time in prayer, bible reading, and meditation on God’s Word. So I ask you today to set your heart toward God and regain your spiritual sight.
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