Soul Care

"My soul is like a house, small for you to enter, but I pray you to enlarge it. It is in ruins, but I ask you to remake it. It contains much that you will not be pleased to see: this I know and do not hide. But who is to rid it of these things?"

Saint Augustine

Today in Church, our guest speaker Dr. Robert Crosby, spoke on the topic of soul care. We often talk about self-care and while I do believe that self-care is important Dr. Crosby challenged us to shift our thinking of self-care to soul care. Self-care is based on what it's called, self. As Christians, we are called to die to self and follow Him. When we practice self-care without the Lord residing in our hearts and souls we become self-centered. Soul care, much life self-care if focused on caring for yourself, but here's the difference, so that you can care for others. Soul care is centered on God and not ourselves.

I like the question Augustine asks, "who is to rid it of these things?", as Christians, we know the answer, Christ. Christ is the only one who has the power to rid us of the ruins that are within. And yet, ironically, we often struggle in letting Him in. We're too afraid to let Him see the suffering, decay, and mess. I think we struggle in letting Him because we view God in the same way we view humans. We limit Him to what He can do because we cannot fully comprehend who He is. If you think about it, how many of you have a room that guests are not allowed in because it's so messy? How many of you frantically clean before people come over because you believe your house has to be spotless? Of course, I'm not encouraging you never clean your house or that it's viewed as polite and a good host to clean up is wrong. I am simply saying that in reality, we all have messy houses. And people really aren't judging us based on that, however, we believe that they are and so we do everything we can do to avoid that perceived judgment.

Here's what I am saying. When it comes to our homes, as it pertains to our souls, the Lord doesn't require us to clean up our mess. He knows we never can. That as humans, we are quite literally unable to clean up the mess of our sins. It is only through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross that we can be cleansed. So, for those of us who are so concerned about needing to present a perfectly clean house to the Lord, stop. Today, stop trying so hard to create this perfect life and just turn to Him. I love the rhetoricalness of that question, who will get rid of these things, because despite how messy our houses may be, God still chooses to inhabit them and will make them spotless. Despite the mistakes we've made in our lives and maybe even continue to make at times, the Lord still wants to come in. He still wants you to invite Him over. He isn't afraid of our mistakes, in fact, His grace is made even more powerful through our weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12:9). It is when we come to Him in humble submission that the mess, the pain, the mistakes, the decay, and the struggles begin to subside.

My friend, the Lord wants to rebuild your life from the inside out. Are you ready and are you willing to invite Him into your messy house? I'll be honest, it's not easy, to follow Him requires sacrifice. The sacrifice of selfish desires to be in holy pursuit of Him. He never promised day without pain and hardship, but He did promise that He'd be there with us and to give us strength for the day (Isaiah 41:10). In Matthew 11:30 it tells us, "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 7:14 tells us, "but small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." These verses tell us that the burdens Christians carry will be light on a hard path and for those who do not believe and have faith in Him, their burdens are heavy on an easy path, a path to eternal death.

I've heard it said many times, that the enemy only attacks what's valuable. My friends, do not get discouraged when we see non-Christians living an "easy" life for I promise you, if they are not in Christ they are on the road to eternal hell and damnation. I promise you, you'd rather face a short period of struggles here on earth than an eternity of suffering. Take comfort in knowing that He will provide for you. Let Him in today! Open that door, whatever it may be and let Him in.

Lord, we thank you that you're not afraid of our messy houses. In fact, you love to clean up and make new house that are in need of your love and grace. Lord, we invite you in today, into the mess and hurt and pray for renewed hearts and souls. Lord, we lift up our burden to you and thank you for taking them. Lord, I pray that we would focus our lives on you, and that you would inhabit our lives.