Month: November 2010 (Page 3 of 3)

Devotions from Stephen Smith’s book, Soul Custody

Frederick  Buechner said, “The kind of work God usually calls you to is the kind of work (a) that you need most to do and (b) that the world most needs to have done….The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”  About 70 % of people are unhappy in their current job due to work related stress. And since the majority of our time is spent at work it is important to find work that brings fulfillment, challenge, contribution, and continued motivation.  Making wise choices about what we do with our lives and our abilities becomes a sacred responsibility. As we care for our vocations, we in turn care for our souls.  What we do for a living affects our souls! In each of us there is the underlying question of what we should do with our lives.  If we become obsessed with merely succeeding and getting ahead, we can lose touch with our souls and disappear into our roles, without ever knowing who we really are. We are more than our job that we do for a living!  It is our birthright to become who we are, to do what we are called to do.  There is joy when we engage in our work and it is not just a means to an end.  If we are to know our true vocation, we must take a long hard look into our souls, that place that is most us, and let our inner voice speak and nudge us in the right direction. Then our work can bring glory to God. More tomorrow

Devotions from Stephen Smith’s book, Soul Custody

“We are not here to simply exist. We are here to become.” Susan Howatch. What we are to become is our true selves-the exact people God intended for us to become.  Knowing our true selves helps us to know who God really is.  Thomas Merton said, “If I find Him I will find myself and if I find my true self I will find Him!”  Life is all about knowing God, which leads to knowing our true selves. Sometimes we might discover we don’t really want to know all about ourselves as we find we are selfish, prideful, jealous, angry etc. But we need to deal with these things if are on the road to transformation and knowing who we really are.  How wonderful then to hear His voice telling us it’s not about our achievements etc but our belovedness depends on the fact that God says we are loveable, worthy of His love and attention and care. Caring for our souls means honoring our true identity and guarding and valuing it.  Otherwise we remain a fraction of who God has in mind . “ By accepting ourselves, we learn to accept a God who is loving, gracious, creative, able to forgive, and willing to extend mercy”  As we go about our day let us remember that we matter to God!

Devotions from Stephen Smith’s book, Soul Custody

Choosing to become who we are is one of the most important choices we make in life.  How often we try to be many people other than who we really are. When we choose to be ourselves, we honor God’s intent with us. IT is a journey of transformation as we learn to give up all the false selves we have tried to be and accept our true selves. Fueling the false self requires so much energy and we always need something more to impress or to be powerful etc.  What freedom there is when we take off our masks and let our true faces shine forth.  But we have to get rid of the lies we have believed that we are what we do, or we are what we have, or we are what other people think of us. Instead we must embrace the truth that we really are the beloved of God and are fearfully and wonderfully made. Every soul has glory within and is an image bearer to God.

Devotions from Stephen Smith’s book, Soul Custody

Have you noticed how technology has made it possible for us to be always available to people? But we were not always created to be on and available, as our souls never get the chance to rest and settle.  Even God rested one whole day! We are told to observe a span of time “to cease”, which is the literal meaning of the Sabbath.  As we keep the Sabbath we realize that life is not up to us and we need to cease, stop and enjoy!  How we spend it is our choice of what helps us to reclaim the sacred part of our souls. Refusing to rest or cease is trying to do more than God who rested from His work. We may have to be intentional and shut down our computer and be mindful of our souls and people who mean the most of us. We may want to light a candle, enjoy a meal with friends, go for a walk or hike, take ad nap, read the Bible as a family etc.   WE need to cease from anything that is not life giving. We need time to pause and to be free to enjoy God. Sometimes when we are lacking in joy, we may have violated the rhythm of life. We need to try to live true to ourselves and true to the way we were created to live. But let us remember that the Sabbath rest is intended to be a delight and not a rule.

Devotions from Stephen Smith’s book, Soul Custody

The author gives 10 suggestions for dealing with our stress

      1.  Practice the spiritual discipline of slowing down. Practice silence and journal how you can eradicate hurry from your life.

1. Explore what is contributing to your stress.  Identify the sources of your stress and seek to make choices that will lead you to de-stress your life in specific ways.
2. Park the farthest from your destination and pray as you walk. Talk it out with God
3. Incorporate more humor in your life.  Laughter is a stress buster.
4. Decide to join the slow food movement. Enjoy meal preparation as a soulful, life-giving, and even spiritual exercise.
5. Go to bed 30 minutes earlier every night for a month and evaluate how you feel.
6. Do something that gives you life every day. Work with the question, “What makes me come alive?” and practice it.
7. Choose one day a week, perhaps your Sabbath, not to check voice mail, e-mail, or use any form of technology.
8. Become less available to people’s demands and more available to the choices that lead to caring for your soul.
9. Walk 30 minutes 5 days a week at a steady pace and monitor how your feel after that time.

You might want to find a friend who is an encourager to share with and help you during this time.  Let us all find a rhythm of living that rids us of our stress and helps us to give it to Him who gives peace!

Devotions from Stephen Smith’s book, Soul Custody

It isn’t possible to formulate one-size-fits-all way of dealing with stress in our lives. We are uniquely and wonderfully made and we need to recognize our own soul’s way of dealing with stress. As we learn to face it and cope we are caring for our soul and honoring the way God made us. It is good to find someone with whom we can share our doubts, fears, and disappointments with.  The church should be a place that is safe for all of us to share and listen and bear one another’s burdens and stresses.  As we listen to one another, it is not to judge but to welcome what each has to share. “When we listen well, we give our hearts to receive, our minds to process, and our souls to share the journey with a friend in need. “  As we extend care to others we offer them a place to be cared for –simply by being present, paying attention, and listening to their story. Often they will find the stress melting and flowing out of them just by being listened to. Let us help one another, and let us help ourselves to find the peace that God desires for us.

Devotions from Stephen Smith’s book, Soul Custody

When we are experiencing stress it is good to have a sustainable rhythm for our souls. When everything around us seems to move too fast and we feel ourselves giving out we need a rhythm of rest. That means taking time for breaks, enjoying meals, and getting sleep so we can be replenished.  We know that our body and our soul cannot thrive when the soul is empty.  Rhythm allows us to engage, then disengage; to be involved, then withdraw; work and contribute, then rest and recover. To live according to God’s rhythm will nourish us but we must be intentional and not ignore.  Adele Calhoun said, “We can get so busy doing urgent things and so preoccupied with what comes next that we don’t experience the now. Afraid of being late, we rush from the past to the future. The present moment becomes a crack between what we did and what we have yet to do. It is virtually lost to us. We don’t get to our futures any faster if we hurry. And we certainly don’t become better people in haste. More likely than not, the faster we go the less we become.” Let us eradicate hurry from our lives and live according to God’s rhythm!

Devotions from Stephen Smith’s book, Soul’s custody

The demands of our roles in life affect our souls.  When we are squeezed too tightly, stress consumes our physical, emotional, and mental energy.  Stress is both residual and cumulative.  When we have prolonged stress it can lead to burnout and there are no reserves. Lingering effects on our soul might be physical exhaustion, inability to sleep, nightmares, depression, eating problems, irritability, anger, withdrawing, feeling of emptiness etc. It can also cause high  blood pressure, panic disorders, anxiety disorders, heart disease, cancer, etc.  When we are under a lot of stress we may become spiritually dry and our energy and vitality is zapped.  We must remember to take our stress to God for He understands and knows what to do about it. Like David, let us take our concerns to God. Why not read the Psalms that are full of prayers for relief from stressful situations?

Devotions from Stephen Smith’s book, Soul Custody

To live simply is to live with our souls in tact, our hearts undivided, and our destination sure.  We might ask ourselves if our heart is not beating for God, what is our heart beating for? Maybe that first love we had for Him gets sucked away by the world’s pull on our lives.   Jesus wants us to return to the simplicity that is in Him which means having a passionate love for Him and learning to rest in what matters in this life. We can let go of the rest. Two important words are, “Follow me” and as we choose Him everything changes for us.  Another way to have simple faith in Jesus is to draw close to Him. ( James 4) We create space for Him as we open ourselves up and listen to Him, and as we become aware of His love for us. He wants us to put Him first and not get pre-occupied with things.  Then He moves us from worry to trust, from anxiety to faith, from apprehension to peace.  It isn’t easy to keep our soul simple. Cluttered lives makes our spiritual journey cumbersome.  We need to detach from things and our souls will be set free. All of life is a continual exercise in letting go. Let us desire less stuff, but more of Jesus.