This is a hope we are called to, a hope that we can know and understand.ĭescribe a time when you needed to be listening to your soul and hearing from the Lord. In this pause, hope is available if we will ask the Spirit to flood our hearts, the center of our beings, with light. Let’s take a moment to breathe deeply and be still. Noticing what’s been neglected, what hasn’t been working, what you’ve been avoiding. It begins with looking around and taking in all your surroundings. Observing takes time.Īnd it starts with simply being still. Perhaps you are already in the process of paying attention and you have an idea of what your soul is trying to tell you. Often “soul” is used in the same manner as “heart” or “spirit.” We have to learn to listen to our soul. The word soul is often used to describe who a person really is-the nonphysical part, their spiritual nature. The renewing is what transforms our lives (Romans 12:2). Yet it is our soul (our mind, will, and emotions) that needs constant renewing (Ephesians 4:23–24 AMP). Scripture says that in Christ we become new creatures, meaning our spirit is instantaneously made new (2 Corinthians 5:17). Our soul, often confused or sometimes used interchangeably with spirit, is comprised of our mind, will, and emotions. It is your God-breathed life according to Genesis 2:7. Your spirit is the eternal you-the true you. It is the structure of the home in which your spirit and your soul reside. Your body is your physical nature, the exterior. All components work together, and each affects the others. Growing up, my dad taught me that “I am a spirit, I have a soul, and I live in a body.” This gave me a wonderful framework, which I’m grateful for yet it’s only now that I’m beginning to understand the differentiation of the spirit, soul, and body.ĭifferentiation and connectedness, that is. Today is the day to start truly paying attention to the soundtrack of your soul. It’s time we stopped turning down the volume, skipping to the next song, or completely zoning out while a pain playlist is set to repeat.

It’s offering precious information that is elemental for change. Whether joyful or despondent, it’s telling a tale. No matter how loud or languid, your soul is playing a tune. After my private tirade concluded, I sat still in shock. The next thing I knew, I was pounding on the steering wheel and screaming at the top of my lungs-guttural screaming (revisiting this moment now still evokes emotion). Knowing the roads like the back of my hand, I was driving on autopilot and turned up the music in an attempt to drown out my weighty thoughts.

Having just left the hotel where my grandma and aunt were staying for the funeral, I was driving myself home. On one of those cold, dark December nights I was forced to begin paying attention to my soul. Looking back, I knew I was confused, scared, uncertain, exhausted, and facing chronic stress, but I couldn’t see beyond the burning emotion in the moment. I would have told you I was sad, maybe depressed, depending on the day. I was overwhelmed with emotional pain, but I couldn’t name it as such. Everything felt dark and irreparable during a season in which we had always celebrated and experienced peace and joy. Then, unexpectedly, days before Christmas, my thirty-one-year-old cousin passed away. Relationships in my family of origin were swiftly shifting, and I was left confounded and wounded. It was Christmas 2013, and I was completely resisting the fact that my parents were newly separated after nearly forty years of marriage. Maybe there is silence where you are aching to hear something, anything. The low hum of white noise akin to anxiety. Perhaps chronic stress, like static you can’t tune out. Well, your soul has a soundtrack, even if you’ve never recognized it as such. You hear a song on the radio or playlist and instantly you are struck with emotion. I tend to create a soundtrack for my life.

Unclutter your soul