I have been thinking about Psalms 23:3 a lot in this season....

HE RESTORES MY SOUL....

Restore. Definition:
To bring something back to its original, proper, or former condition.
Hebrew word used for restore is shub, which literally means "to turn back," "to bring home," or "to rescue from wandering."

Soul. Definition:
Your Mind: Your thoughts, memories, and intellect.
​Your Emotions: Your deepest feelings, joys, and sorrows.
​Your Will: Your choices, longings, and determinations.

Hebrew word used is nephesh- in Hebrew, you don’t simply have a nephesh(soul). You are one. Nephesh describes the whole living being ; your life, your breath, your inner self.

The restoration Psalm 23:3 is speaking about is a deep, inward healing of your inner self.. It is the gentle process of putting a broken soul back together. The restoration refered to doesn't just heal past wounds; it sets you on a fresh path. It takes a mind and spirit that has wandered into dark valleys or confusion and realigns them with peace, purpose, and right standing. Its about bringing back your soul to its original, proper, or former condition.

Main Takeaway: There is a version of you and me before our souls were ever corrupted, contaminated, or lost and the Good Shepherd’s ultimate desire and aim is to bring us back to where we were always meant to be. ​The version of any of us that trauma, pain, hurt, or grief gave birth to is not who we truly are. That is simply the version created for the sole purpose of survival. It was never our true identity.

​Could it be that:
​We don't necessarily hate people; rather, we are deeply hurt because the very people we opened up to, trusted, believed in, and helped never reciprocated that love.

​We are not socially awkward; rather, we feel anxious and insecure around others because we were conditioned to believe that we were not good enough, or that our opinion didn't matter.

We say we prefer doing things on our own and refuse to ask for help, but that is only because no one ever showed up for us when we needed them the most. We simply learned, very quickly, that we were on our own and adjusted accordingly.

​The list goes on.

​The version of any of us that was forged while surviving and navigating grief, pain, trauma, and hurt on our own is not who we are meant to be and it is certainly not all we are meant to be. There is a version that is waiting on the other side of healing... on the other side of restoration.

So ​by all means we must surrender to God through that process of restoration, so we can finally become the version of ourselves He always intended us to be.