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Take Time to Walk with Your Soul and Know God

March 9, 2026

2 Kings 5:1-15b|Luke 4:23-30 |Psalm 42:1-7

Four parts of Psalm 42, from today’s readings, spoke deeply to me. They helped me, along with some research, to be able to put together a more profound, understandable image of the human soul and its relationship to God! 

“As the deer longs for the water-brooks, so longs my soul for you, O God.”

I feel closest to God in nature. Our family spent special times with my grandfather in Maine going out after dinner to look for deer! It is easy to picture a deer satisfying her thirst, drinking from a woodland brook, with perhaps her fawn close by. Water is so basic to life. The soul is like a stream that gives strength, direction, and harmony to every area of life. In a similar but more profound way, the soul thirsts for God, to know more about God.

“My soul is ‘athirst’ for God, ‘athirst’ for the living God…”

The soul is your deepest “you,” the part connected to God and eternity. The soul is where relationship with God happens…my thirst, my desire is strong to worship a God who shows me how to live a Christian life!

“Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul? and why are you so disquieted within me?”

Accepting sinfulness is a human challenge. Many long to be closer to God. A soul can be saved, but it will take softness and depth of space. We might learn spiritual meekness, which will come about in the dark night. This will be a test of your joyful confidence in God.…One’s inner spiritual and emotional core is overworked, undernourished, or carrying too much alone-even if you’re still functioning and helping others.

An early signal: I’m doing all the right things but feeling less inside. Feeling irritated, less emotional energy, quiet resentment. You may minimize your own needs. Prayer feels flat or mechanical. Loss of inner warmth. This does not mean you are less loving, it usually means you have been giving-without equal replenishing. Feeling disconnected from God even if your belief in him is still strong. Even deeply faithful individuals go through this. It is not failure, it’s a signal. This needing restoration is not weakness in Christian thinking, This need is expected. Things that used to refill you begin to only maintain you. It is a moment to adjust-=not push harder. One’s risk is not lack of faith or effort. The risk is giving from deep reserves without enough intentional refilling.  

“Put your trust in God…”

 Caring for the soul, refilling, usually means paying attention to what brings you closer to love, faith, repentance, and grace. Many expect soul growth to feel dramatic yet in Christian spirituality it usually shows up quietly…more like deepening roots than quickly growing branches. Quietly one might appreciate nature more, find more satisfaction in helping others, less pull toward drama. We may judge ourselves less harshly, be patient and more forgiving, more comfort in quietly being yourself. In Christian spirituality there is increasing steadiness, gentleness, and capacity to love…all a result of getting to know our soul, our God!

Summary:

This “reset” in Christian spiritual language is not so much about doing more things right, but about letting your inner system come back into alignment with God, rest and meaning. The soul resets fastest when it feels safe to receive. Notice grace in ordinary moments. You can hold sadness and joy at the same time. Perhaps feel tenderness instead of emotional shutdown. Begin to feel ‘accompanied’ even when alone. Have easier access to calm when one prays or sits quietly. One is not facing life alone. There is the presence of your restored soul, and your profound, unending connection to God.

Judy Ireland