“Deep is not a place we visit in our search for God,

it’s what happens to us when we find him.”

Calvin Miller

About the author

Maria Egilsson has a definite heart and passion for ministering to women! She clearly leads out of that passion as she articulates very well and as she shares her nurturing personality and heart with those around her. Her attentive spirit allows her to not only listen and hear but to discern and lead in a way that is thoughtful, caring and decisive. Maria’s heart for the implementation of God’s word in women’s lives is deep. This combination of gifts, strengths and passion, gives you a woman seeking after God and desiring to draw others towards her heavenly Father.

Bev Thiessen Previous coordinator for Gift & Called Training Seminar

I have had the privilege of working together with Maria Egilsson and have found her to be a person with strong discernment gifts, an ability to compassionately speak the truth in love, and challenge in a way that is direct yet invites dialogue and reflection. She possesses obvious leadership gifts and is able to speak to underlying issues in a way that is perceptive and enlightening. I highly commend her to you.

Dr. Ken Thiessen, Senior Consulting Partner - Power of One Consulting

In her own words

I would describe myself as a continuous “work in progress”; a woman who has learned how to find deep satisfaction in the word of God. Through many desert places God has proven Himself faithful over and over again.

I am passionate about issues women face, their relationship with themselves, with God and the world around them. My heartbeat is for women to see themselves as God sees them, to discover and pursue their God given destinies

Soul Care, God’s Way

Caring for your soul takes time, energy and commitment. Spiritual growth doesn’t occur in a vacuum but it happens in relationship; with God and with others. Soul care, God’s way, is a life-long journey that will transform you from the inside it. It will impact those that God entrusts to your care.

This book offers practical instruction and includes worksheets after each chapter that will guide you in working through the concepts.

Soul Care, God’s Way can easily be adapted for mini-workshops or a weekend retreat.

Copyright Use:

You have permission to make copies of the worksheets for group participants without alteration and with the words:

“Used with permission by, Maria Egilsson www.thewoman2woman.com”

“Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,

It is well with my soul.”

Horatio Spafford

Table of Contents

Introduction of Concepts:

What is Soul Care

Soul Care is a journey

Soul Care takes time

Soul Care, God’s way

Soul Care involves three stages

Part 1 Taking off the mask and becoming vulnerable

• We really need to get in touch with what we feel

• Inviting the Holy Spirit to search our heart

• Worksheets: Emotions a, b, c, d.

Part 2 What is your life story telling you

• God is a Master Gardener at work in our hearts

• The Preparing

• The Planting

• The Process

• Worksheets: The Me I See a, b, c

• Threads of purpose

• Defining story

Part 3 Becoming engaged with God and our real self

• Job’s fear

• Job’s response: I’m Ready to Shut Up and Listen

• Seeing God

• Proven Faith

• Worksheet 3:

• Becoming Engaged with God and our real self

Part 4 How God develops our life story

• Joseph the Dreamer: God gives a dream

• Joseph the Favored: Effects of childhood

• Joseph the Braggart: Immaturity in the calling

• The call of God is progressive

Part 5 Going deeper by slowing the pursuit of purpose

• There is danger in going ahead too fast

• Elijah’s day of miracles

• A Journey with God

• A Place of desolation

• Elijah hears God Whisper

• Worksheets: Where are you?

Part 6 Going deeper by abiding in the vine

• Abiding through the word

• Abiding through relationship

• Abiding in Him through sorrows journey

• A catalyst for change

• Jeremiah’s journey

• Worksheet 7: Resting in God

Part 7 What does God see

• Whatever is He thinking?

• What did God see is Gideon?

• God wants us to share our story

• Gifts & Callings

• Square pegs

• Round holes

• Worksheet 7: Forward Thinking

Part 8 Maintaining a deeper walk with Him

• He desires to have our attention

• David’s secret

• David’s heart

• Developing a closer walk

• Holy Habits

• Practicing His presence

Addendum

• Chapter Summaries

• For those in leadership

What is “Soul Care?”

Our lives are filled with things that take our time and attention. We spend time looking after things we own like computers, cars, homes and gardens. Often we focus on taking care of our physical appearance – our hair, clothing and our weight. Then for many of us, we care for those people we love – our spouse, family and children.

As Christians we also take care of our spiritual side by attending church, participating in Bible studies and being involved in His kingdom by using our gifts and talents. We are learning more about God, but are we experiencing Him in transforming fellowship?

If I asked you “Is it well with your soul?” How would you answer? How would you begin to find the answer?

The Psalmist David knew how to find the answer. He asked:

“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?”

Psalm 43:5 (NIV)

David listened to his soul. He heard its needs and desires. Like David, we need to have conversations with our own soul.

“Unless the LORD had given me help, I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death. When I said, ‘My foot is slipping,’ your love, O LORD, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.” Psalm 94:17-19 (NIV)

To listen to our soul, we need to peel away the layers of things that command so much of our time and attention. If we attend to our physical needs with daily food and care, how much more important is the care of our soul?

Life is about knowing and experiencing God. He speaks to us the through the language of our soul.

Soul Care Is a Journey

Soul care is a journey that will bring “truth to our inward parts.” (Psalm 61:6) It is about seeing the threads of purpose that God has woven throughout our life and knowing how to respond to His work by developing a deeper relationship with Him.

Soul care is making space in our life to connect with God and allowing Him to speak to us. He wants to reignite the passion for the call He has placed in our life.

Soul care is a life-long journey that transforms us from the inside out and impacts those whom God entrusts to your care.

The health of our soul matters to God and He wants us to be able to say like David:

“My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;

With singing lips my mouth will praise you.

On my bed I remember you;

I think of you through the watches of the night.

Because you are my help,

I sing in the shadow of your wings.

My soul clings to you;

Your right hand upholds me.”

Psalm 63:5-8 (NIV)

Soul Care Takes Time

Watch over your heart with all diligence. From it flows the springs of life. Proverbs 4:23

Caring for our soul takes time, energy and commitment. Spiritual growth doesn’t occur in a vacuum but it happens in relationship; with God and with others. There is a need for transparency and vulnerability before God and before each other. The health of your soul does matter. Soul care is a life-long journey that will transform you from the inside it. It will impact those that God entrusts to your care.

Do you have a “hole” in your soul? A sense of disconnect that halts your life at times; a sense of something unfinished. Is there longing for something more? How badly we need to hear from Him! Soul care is making space in your life to connect with God allowing Him to speak to you. He wants to reignite the passion for the call He has placed upon your life.

Soul care, God’s way; is not an easy journey. It will strip away the lies and deceits of your heart. It is painful in the brutal honesty that leaders need from Him. This journey cannot be rushed as step by step He begins to restore our soul back to health once again.

Soul care is deliberately creating “holy habits” into our daily lives. These habits will ensure that we stay attached to the life-giving Vine. It is only by abiding in Him that our ministry remains effective and fruitful. Caring for your soul is foundational to how you live and how you lead.

Soul Care, God’s Way

Life is a gift. It is also a struggle. Most time we see struggles as something to avoid at all costs. But God can use struggles to make us pause in our life where we take stock of who we are and where we are going.

- Do you spend time imagining scenarios that would make you “happier” but you cannot find the path to it?

- Do you feel a longing in your heart for something more but don’t know what you are looking for?

It’s time to get real; about our life, our purpose and our relationship with God.

Soul Care involves three stages

I. Taking off the mask and becoming vulnerable

II. Discovering what your life story is telling you

III. Connecting with God in a deeper way

Part 1: Taking off the mask and becoming vulnerable

Our soul is the “hidden person of the heart” (1 Pet. 3:4, NASB). It is that inner dimension that we often keep a secret from others. It is also a place where we often cannot see ourselves clearly. God desires that we attend to our own souls. It is important that time is made available for this. We need to actively and deliberately schedule this into our day.

Jesus is our example and how often we read of Him removing Himself from the daily routine of life and spending time connecting with His Father. This is what the Holy Spirit is drawing us to do as well; to remove ourselves from the mundane chores of our live (or busy ministry schedules) and to take time to connect deeply with Christ where we surrender our souls to His care. The health of your soul does matter.

To help us discover the health of our soul we will be exploring the following concepts:

- What do we show on the outside?

- What is our soul saying on the inside?

- What are the emotions behind the mask?

Your emotions will enable you to delve more quickly into truth and can help steer you toward the path God has for you. Uncovering emotions, and being real about them, also helps in taking off our masks. Your masks may deceive those around you but your heart knows.

The following is an excerpt from a poem by

Charles C. Finn

Please hear what I am not saying

Don’t be fooled by me. Don’t be fooled by the face I wear

For I wear a mask, a thousand masks,

Masks that I’m afraid to take off,

And none of them is me.

Pretending is an art that’s second nature with me,

But don’t be fooled; for God’s sake don’t be fooled.

I give you the impression that I’m secure,

That all is sunny and unruffled with me, within as well as without,

That confidence is my name and coolness my game,

That the water’s calm and I’m in command

And that I need no one, but don’t believe me.

My surface may seem smooth but my surface is my mask,

Ever-varying and ever-concealing.

Beneath lays no complacence.

Beneath lays confusion, and fear, and aloneness.

But I hide this. I don’t want anybody to know it.

I panic at the thought of my weakness exposed.

That’s why I frantically create a mask to hide behind,

A nonchalant sophisticated facade,

To help me pretend, to shield me from the glance that knows.

But such a glance is precisely my salvation, my only hope,

And I know it. That is, if it’s followed by acceptance,

If it’s followed by love.

It’s the only thing that can liberate me from myself,

From my own self-built prison walls,

From the barriers I so painstakingly erect.

It’s the only thing that will assure me

Of what I can’t assure myself,

That I’m really worth something.

Used with permission

We really need to get in touch with what we feel so that:

1. We can acknowledge them instead of suppressing them.

2. Accept them, “This is what I am feeling”

3. We begin to allow others to see us as we really are.

We can then invite the Holy Spirit to search our heart to show us:

1. Why do we feel this way?

2. What life experience or circumstance has affected me?

3. Where has Satan taken advantage of this?

4. How can I begin to experience healing?

5. Steps I can take in making changes.

“A thought may be put out of the mind, but it is much more difficult to put a fearful emotion out of the mind. Managing emotions is important and gets us to healthy place.” Maria Egilsson

WORKSHEETS: 1 A, B, C, D.

THE FOLLOWING WORKSHEETS WILL WALK YOU THROUGH SOME OF THESE STEPS BY IDENTIFY EMOTIONS AND THE UNDERLYING FEAR.

Worksheet 1a: EMOTIONS

What are you feeling today? (Mark answers with a “T”)

What emotion have you felt this week? (Mark answer with a “W”)

Anger

Fear

Loss

Anxiety

Uneasiness

Guilt

Hurt

Disappointment

Frustration

Unworthiness

Loneliness

Regret

Embarrassment

Overwhelmed

List 3 feelings that have been predominant this week: (add your own if not on list):

1. ________________________

2. ________________________

3. ________________________

Worksheet 1b: EMOTIONS

Then thinking about the 3 listed in worksheet a, ask yourself:

“How often do you feel them?”

“What were you doing when you felt these emotions?

“What happened to make you feel these emotions?”

Jot down what comes to your mind:

Emotion #1:

Emotion #2:

Emotion #3:

Worksheet 1c: EMOTIONS

Circle (3) what you fear the most:

Rejection

Failure

Other: _____________

Disapproval

Being vulnerable

Other: _____________

Loss of image

Loss of security

Answer the following using the emotions/fears that you have circled:

“I couldn’t face________________________

“I couldn’t face _______________________

“I couldn’t face _______________________

Examples:

“I couldn’t face being alone”;

“I couldn’t face being rejected”

Worksheet 1d: EMOTIONS

What I fear the most is _______________

because _______________________________

What I fear the most is _______________

because _______________________________

What I fear the most is _______________

because _______________________________

Examples:

“What I fear most is being vulnerable because people can take advantage.”

“What I fear most is rejection because I want people to like me.”

Being able to name our underlying fears and emotions allows us then to confront them. They diminish in power once they are brought into the light.

A Time of Reflection

A woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. Jesus said “She has done a beautiful thing to me.”

Matthew 26:7-10

A Time to Pray

Father, our alabaster jar lays shattered even as the fragrance of worship is released. Our feet are covered with shards of fractured clay as we stand in this broken place. You tenderly pick up each sharp and slivered piece. You hold them as precious treasures. You know their cost. Hardened pieces soften in the warmth of Your love. You remake us. You remold us. Jars of clay molded by the Potter fit once again for the use of a King.

In Review

Soul care means taking a risk to become more real before God. As Charles Finn states in his poem, a glance of love is what breaks down the barriers that we have erected. God knows what is there and He is waiting for us to tell Him. Let Him release a beautiful fragrance of worship from your heart. You will also find that the more you work at taking off the masks, the less need you feel to wear them.

Part 2 What is your life story telling you?

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Cor. 4:16-18

When you take a look at your own life you will probably find a common thread that is woven through all the experiences of your life. It doesn’t matter if they have been experiences of failure, confusion, frustration or success.

We all have stories. They begin at the earliest moments of our life. These stories are created and formed by life experiences. They help us make sense of the world, help us survive, and shape our core values and beliefs. These stories also distort. They hide destructive patterns of behavior as well as distorting truth.

Our stories influence the way we feel about ourselves, how we interact with others, raise our children and our view of God. That’s why it is so important to become real; to ourselves, God and others. If we don’t allow God to come into our stories and to shine His truth into our heart then healing and change cannot happen.

Imagine if you had a broken bone and you did not take the time to let it heal completely. Over time there would be limited function but not the full use and movement.

Soul care, God’s way, is allowing Him into those deep places even when the pain may increase. He needs to “re-set” our souls so that we can be fully healed and whole.

God is a Master Gardener at work in our hearts

The Preparing

God knows what is needed in the different seasons of our life. Like a Master Gardener, He will prepare our heart for His planting by breaking up any hardness and then smoothing out the ruts

God does not waste anything in your life. Our journey with him is very individual. We cannot judge each other. We cannot compare each others. We can, however, share our journey. It is in the sharing of our stories that we encourage and strengthen each others in our journey towards heaven.

The way God breaks up the hardness of our heart is through our life journey. He allows situations and circumstances in order that a deep work can be done within our soul.

The Planting

Then will come the season of planting. He plants in each of us different seeds. Each type of seed is handled in a specific manner. It is planted and processed in very unique ways.

The Process

Just as a farmer is aware of the soil, the seeds and the seasons for planting, so is God.

God is working so personally in our lives and we need to be able to see and understanding what He is doing.

Our faith journey may be quite different than someone else but rest assured, He knows what He is doing.

As we read in Isaiah 28 a wise farmer knows when there is a need to plow. Sometimes the soil is hardened and there is need to break up the soil and to harrow it before planting can take place.

Different seeds are used according to what the farmer wants to reap. God knows the soil and condition of our hearts. He also has a plan and purpose that He wants to perform within our lives.

When a farmer plows for planting, does he plow continually? Does he keep on breaking up and harrowing the soil? When he has leveled the surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cummin? Does he not plant wheat in its place, and barley in its plot, and spelt in its field? His God instructs him and teaches him the right way. Caraway is not threshed with a sledge, nor is a cartwheel rolled over cummin; caraway is beaten out with a rod and cummin with a stick. Grain must be ground to make bread; so one does not go on threshing it forever. Though he drives the wheels of his threshing cart over it, his horses do not grind it. All this also comes from the LORD Almighty, wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom. Isaiah 28:24-30 (NIV)

During our life journey God develops character, maturity and values that we basically live our life by. The following worksheets will help you discover core values that God has put within your temperament. These values have been hewn from the stories of your life. This will be a tool that will help you see yourself more clearly.

Worksheet 2a: The Me I See

What are some of my values:

Family, work, honesty, faith, friendship, intelligence, balance, beauty, courage, fun, creativity, music, status, reputation, relationships, helping people, power, authority, public service, purity, tranquility, involvement, self-respect, leadership, decisiveness, economic security, truth, excellence, nature, excitement, freedom, wisdom, stability, personal development, being around people, being alone, acceptance, love, belonging, challenge, change, loyalty, others_________

List 10 that are important:

1. _________________

2. _________________

3. _________________

4. _________________

5. _________________

6. _________________

7. _________________

8. _________________

Cross 5 of them off and list the 5 remaining:

1. _________________

2. _________________

3. _________________

4. _________________

5. _________________

Worksheet 2b: The Me I See

Now imagine that you are only permitted four.

1. _________________

2. _________________

3. _________________

4. _________________

Cross off another, to bring our list down to three

1. ___________________________

2. ___________________________

3. ___________________________

And another, to bring our list down to two.

1. _________________

2. _________________

Finally cross off one of your two values.

Which is the one item on the list that you care most about?

1. ___________________________

Does that surprise you? Why?

Worksheet 2c: The Me I See

God’s fingerprint is seen on the chapters of our life when we look back at some of the things that we are passionate about. Seeing themes and patterns help us to uncover the story that God is weaving day by day.

Take a few moments to answer these questions:

What do I like to do?

What are my unique talents and abilities?

Where do I want to go?

What do I want to see?

What do I want to learn?

What do I want to be known for?

How do I want to be remembered?

Identifying these areas bring understanding what we value, cherish and feel passionate about. These are the things that we “see”.

However, God uses different processes to reveal to us things that may have been hidden and now is the time for them to be known.

THREADS OF PURPOSE

God has always seen our true self and now He wants us to see; it is when we truly see ourselves that transformation can really take place.

You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepare before I’d even lived one day.

PSALM 139:15, 16 (THE MESSAGE)

Soul care, God’s way, is a journey that will bring “truth to our inward parts” (Gen 30:10). Restoration of the soul is what soul care is about.

It is also about seeing the threads of purpose that God has woven throughout our live and knowing how to respond to His work by developing a deeper relationship with Him.

DEFINING STORY

Our life stories are powerful and without knowing them, we cannot begin to articulate to others the depths of God’s love. It is in the sharing of our stories that others begin to understand how personal God is.

Take a look back over your life and ask yourself, “What is my defining story?” Is your story one that brings hope and peace to your soul or is it a story which tears open a wound, which brings pain in its remembering?

What we do with our life story will determine whether we repeat past themes or will we marvel at a God who shows himself so very real in our life.

Our past experiences are the hinge Between the past and the future.

A Time of Reflection:

- Take a few minutes to pour out your heart before Him.

- Be real.

- Express to Him how you feel.

- Tell Him where it hurts.

- Weep before Him as you share the intimate details of your soul.

Then allow Him to:

- Reveal the lies that have distorted your view.

- Show you any destructive patterns of behavior.

- Pour in His healing.

- Let you see and understand the planting that He is doing.

A Time to Pray

Abba Father, Your love settles around me like the softness of a feather quilt. You hold me in your loving embrace. This child, once rejected and scorned, is held secure in Your healing arms. The hush of the Almighty soothes a soul set free from secret shame.

In Review

Soul care means allowing yourself time to come before the throne of God. To weep before Him as you pour out all that is deep within. Then invite Him to pour His healing into those wounded places.

Part 3: Becoming Engaged with God and our real self

I am sure that you are beginning to realize that there are no short-cuts with God. Restoring our soul to health takes time and requires on-going commitment. Taking off our masks allows us to be transparent and vulnerable before God and each other.

It is our on-going testimonies that inspire those around us, not the lectures nor the insights. It is how we walk and live that has the greatest impact in today’s culture. We have to discover the stories that God has interwoven throughout our life.

Neither your life nor mine is a random series of events. God is the Author of our life. Yet in the mundane moments it is easy to forget that he writes each person’s life with a purpose. Interwoven threads create a plot that unfolds on the pages of my life and yours.

We have a story to tell but to find our story we have to read backwards. We need to take the time to review past events-finding their meaning with the gift of time and hindsight.

We can become entrapped in our own small world where we focus on the surface things of life. God will use the force of a waterfall to catch our attention.

Life will come to a standstill as God carves out pieces of time where you and I need to attend to our souls. It is in these silent places of solitude that we began to read the themes that God has written into your story and mine.

We begin to revisit scenes and circumstances that you and I thought were empty of his touch. Looking back it is clearer to see his fingerprints on the chapters of our life.

Allow God to reveal the work that He has done in the garden of your heart. It is then that you begin to see your story as one of redemption. And in its sharing lives are touched by His love.

The story of Job

God wants us close to Him even more than we want to be close to Him. But how often do we disconnect from Him. We even hide our heart from Him. Yet He knows all about us. As we share our hearts with Him, being real before Him and learning to hear His heart; our relationship with Him will grow closer and deeper.

As we begin to experience truth and healing in our emotions we begin to realize that we are not looking for a resolution of our past but we are finding that it is the use of our past that draws us closer to God.

In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. He had seven sons and three daughters, 3and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East. Job 1:1-3 (NIV)

Job was a man of wealth and influence. He lived a life of integrity and was well-respected. Yet I wonder if there was a “disconnect” in his heart, an outward appearance but no inner life with God?

As we read through the first two chapters of Job we find him responding “with faith” towards God. Yet as time goes on and things become worse it is like the layers of his heart have been peeled back. Underlying fears and emotions are uncovered and exposed.

“Instead of bread I get groans for my supper, then leave the table and vomit my anguish. The worst of my fears has come true, what I’ve dreaded most has happened. My repose is shattered, my peace destroyed. No rest for me, ever — death has invaded life.” Job 3:24-26 The Message

Job declares that the worst of his fears have come true and what he has dreaded most has happened.

In part 1 there was a statement,

“Being able to name our underlying fears and emotions allows us then to confront them. They diminish in power once they are brought into the light.”

This is what happened to Job. What was deepest in his heart was brought into the light. But the danger here is to rush through God’s soul care process thinking that we understand now.

God wants more than our understanding. He wants a transformation that occurs within our soul.

In prolonged trials and situations we find that hope wanes and faith wavers. A myriad mess of emotions and fears rise to hold us captive. We may find ourselves questioning God and His faithfulness.

Our anger becomes directed at Him along with our “whys”. How normal are these emotions!

Let us continue Job’s story, and in these words, we find ourselves as well.

God then confronted Job directly:

“Now what do you have to say for yourself? Are you going to haul me, the Mighty One, into court and press charges?” Job 40:1 The Message

God understands our heart, He made us. He may bring us to this point so that we can see what He already knows. God isn’t afraid of our anger.

It is healthy to express our anger and hurt towards Him. He can handle it. Job is hearing now what his soul is saying on the inside.

The key point though is not to remain in our anger but to get to the place that Job did where he was ready to be quiet and to listen. Not according to what he thought God should or should not do, but to hear Him speak words of life and truth.

I’m Ready to Shut Up and Listen

Job answered:

“I’m speechless, in awe — words fail me. I should never have opened my mouth! I’ve talked too much, way too much. I’m ready to shut up and listen.”

Job 40:13 The Message

Job is in a place now where he sits and listens to the One who loves him the most. His mask is off and in his vulnerability he is ready to engage with God.

Seeing God

My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Job 42:2-6 The Message

We also begin to realize that it is not only the lessons we have learned from the past, but the trust and faith that has been developed because, like Job, we too have had an encounter with God face to face.

Proven Faith

Before God can use us fully, our faith has to be tested and proved.

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith — of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire — may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 Peter 1:6-7(New International Version)

There is a refining that will change us forever after each and every trial. There is a maturing that comes only during some of life’s most difficult situations.

As we allow God to minister His grace to us in those seasons, we are also allowing Him to build a foundation within us.

This proven foundation becomes a cornerstone upon which God prepares us further for work in His kingdom

Worksheet 3

Becoming Engaged with God and our real self

• Make space in your life to spend time with God.

• Come into His Presence and learn to listen.

• Ask God to show you how He sees you.

• If God begins to show you painful parts of your life that still need healing, invite others into your life to walk with you.

• Tell Him what the desire of your heart right now.

A Time of Reflection

The boat was buffeted by waves... “It’s a ghost,” they cried out in fear...” Lord, if it’s you, Peter replied, tell me to come to you on the water.” Peter got out of the boat heedless of the waves and walked on the water toward Jesus. “But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.” You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” Matthew 14:22-36 (NIV)

On a stormy sea your boat does sail.

The wind is strong and your ship does fail.

The waves are high and the storm is long.

You don’t think that you can last for long.

You’ve tried your best to no avail as strength is gone

And hope is frail.

When you think that life is through

It is then He comes to rescue you.

You are not sure of what you see,

Is it a ghost that calls to thee?

The thrashing waves obscure your view

But you are sure He has called to you.

You take a step out of the boat

And faith in Him keeps you afloat.

But all at once the wind does blow

And your feet begin to slow;

Sinking in the briny flow.

He lifts you up and calms the sea.

Only you He does rebuke.

What is this? Your heart does ache.

Peter, He is readying you

For a task which He calls you to.

This is His training ground for you.

Write out a prayer to Him:

In Review:

Soul care, God’s way is a developing a daily dependence on the living God. Our thirsty soul will seek the only One who can satisfy.

Part 4: How God develops our life story

God calls each of us to a very personal walk with Him. He will deepen the call that He has put within your soul. He will test you and prove you before He will use you further.

There will come a time though when He is ready to enlarge that which you have already been proven faithful in. Like He did with Job and Peter, God will take you through situations where your faith will be shaken and your soul exposed.

- In Job we saw a man in the rawest of emotions silent before the living God. Job had an encounter with God that marked him and changed him forever.

- Peter was sifted and tested because God wanted to do something new in His life. God wanted to build further in Peter’s life but the foundation had to steady and firm.

Our life story is not just “one event’. Accepting Christ is the start of our story and He develops it, chapter by chapter, as we learn to walk in authenticity, vulnerability and honesty before Him.

Connecting with God in a deeper way allows Him to do something new in our lives. Maybe there is something that you may sense in your spirit but you are not quite aware of the details yet or if this really is God nudging you to step out of your “boat”.

Just like Peter was unsure at first, not recognizing who was coming towards him on the water. It is wise to make sure it is Him by asking, like Peter did, “Lord, is it You?.

Then, if you are sure it is Him, step out of that boat no matter what you see around you. Your faith may be unsteady because you have never walked this way before but He is with you and He will steady you.

His plan He will make known to you more clearly as you begin to walk this new journey with. He is not only waiting for you to take that first step but He is standing there bidding you to come.

Joseph the Dreamer

Joseph had a dream... The brothers were saying, “Here comes that dreamer. Let’s kill him and throw him into one of these old cisterns; we can say that a vicious animal ate him up. We’ll see what his dreams amount to.” Taken from Genesis 37

In Genesis 37 we read the story of a dreamer. This is what his brothers called him. Joseph was a young man who had a specific call on his life. He was aware of this but it appears that he was also arrogant with this knowledge.

Joseph was also the favored child and these two elements caused a jealousy to grow in his brothers.

Joseph the Favored

Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons because he was the child of his old age. And he made him an elaborately embroidered coat. When his brothers realized that their father loved him more than them, they grew to hate him — they wouldn’t even speak to him.

Genesis 37:3 The Message

It wasn’t Joseph’s fault that he was favored by his father. Yet it was this favoritism that planted seeds of self-absorption and self-importance within Joseph’s heart.

It is not our fault that in our childhood were planted seeds of many kinds due to the way we were raised. However, it does become our responsibility to deal with them.

In God’s timing He will expose them with the purpose that they are uprooted from our soul. Soul care, God’s way doesn’t mean doing this alone. He puts us within a body for a reason. We need each other.

Reach out and ask someone to walk with you on this journey. Seek the help of a Christian counselor who can guide you through this path if the road becomes too rocky.

Wounds from childhood are often hidden beneath layers of deceit and denial. God cares and He will bring you into a place of healing. It is a process that cannot be rushed through as layer by layer health is restored.

Joseph the Braggart

Joseph had a dream. When he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. He said, “Listen to this dream I had. We were all out in the field gathering bundles of wheat. All of a sudden my bundle stood straight up and your bundles circled around it and bowed down to mine.”

His brothers said, “So! You’re going to rule us? You’re going to boss us around?” And they hated him more than ever because of his dreams and the way he talked.

He had another dream and told this one also to his brothers: “I dreamed another dream — the sun and moon and eleven stars bowed down to me!”

When he told it to his father and brothers, his father reprimanded him: “What’s with all this dreaming? Am I and your mother and your brothers all supposed to bow down to you?” Now his brothers were really jealous; but his father brooded over the whole business. Genesis 37: 4-11 the Message

Sometimes our own immaturity in handling Gods’ call causes others to be envious of that which God has given to us. Then there will be those that do not understand the hand of God at work in our lives and they mock and make fun; causing us to doubt what we have heard.

Joseph betrayed

They spotted him off in the distance. By the time he got to them they had cooked up a plot to kill him... When Joseph reached his brothers, they ripped off the fancy coat he was wearing, grabbed him, and threw him into a cistern. ...Judah said, “Brothers, what are we going to get out of killing our brother... His brothers pulled Joseph out of the cistern and sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites who took Joseph with them down to Egypt. Genesis 37:17-29 the Message

Joseph had a calling on his life to be a leader and there were many life-lessons that he needed to learn. One of the main lessons was for Joseph to realize that leadership arises out of who he is before God.

Over time he was to learn that a leader brings their beliefs, values and experiences in line with the call of God and they are tempered in relationship with each other. No one grows to maturity alone.

And he sent a man before them — Joseph, sold as a slave. They bruised his feet with shackles; his neck was put in irons, till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the LORD proved him true.

Psalm 105 (NIV)

How God developed Joseph’s life story

THERE WAS A CALL ON THIS YOUNG MAN’S LIFE BUT:

- It had to be tested and tried.

- It had to be proven.

- He had to have a heart change.

The call of God is often “progressive”:

- He had to learn to be faithful in the small, the mundane. (Feeding sheep, running errands)

- Character and integrity had to be developed.

There is a spiritual enemy that will also try to discourage:

• There will be temptations and sometimes, like Potiphar’s wife, false accusations.

You cannot bring God’s plan to pass in your own strength and power.

• Joseph had to learn to be under authority.

• The wait was years.

Learn that are “seasons and times” with God:

There were seasons when Joseph was in prison. His circumstances were such that he couldn’t move out into the dream that God had given him.

At times, it seemed like he could “step out” but only to go so far. Joseph didn’t wait for circumstances to change he began to quietly serve in the place he found himself.

Worksheet 4a: Finding your life story

God has called you for a purpose and reason. Take time to reflect and answer these questions. God has called your for a purpose and your answers will help you discover the story God has written for you.

- Where have you been tested and tried.

- Why did it have to be “proven”?

- What have been those encounters that have changed your heart?

The call of God is often “progressive”:

- What are the “mundane”, daily things that you are faithful in?

- What fruit of the Spirit is at work in your life and what still needs to be developed.

Worksheet 4b: Finding your life story

There is a spiritual enemy that will also try to discourage:

- What have been your times of discouragement?

- Where are you the most tempted?

- When are you the most tempted?

You cannot bring God’s plan to pass in your own strength and power:

• Are you accountable to anyone?

Who?

How often?

Who could you ask?

• Do you attend a place of worship regularly?

• Do you find yourself wishing that God would “hurry up”?

Worksheet 4c: Finding your life story

Learn there are “seasons and times” with God:

- Can you identify the seasons and times of God within your own life?

- Can you see ways to quietly serve in the place where you find yourself today?

Looking ahead:

- Where do you feel God calling you?

- What steps can you start doing now to get there?

- What do you need?

- Have you stepped out, in a small way, into that call?

- Has anyone “confirmed” the call on your life?

- Are you willing to do the hard work of waiting and preparing?

A Time of Reflection

Our lives with all its miracles and wonders, pain and despair may appear to us to be merely a discontinuous string of incidents that have no apparent meaning or purpose. Take time this coming week to sit quietly before Him. Allow Him time to whisper to you.

A Time to Pray

Father, in the desert season we pray for healing rain to fall.

Oh, how we long to be in pastures of green once again.

But in this dry and barren place there is a work that You want to do within the deepest core of our being.

You send drops of dew to nourish us in the dawn of each new day knowing that this thirsty soul will seek You for more. Within this desolate place we find You an oasis for our soul.

Your daily care preserves our spirit and gives us life.

In Review

Soul care is seeing our life story against the backdrop of God’s word. We begin to see His narrative woven in each incident and event. It is not a discontinuous string but a weaving of a tapestry. On our side we see knots and loose threads of colored yarn. Ask Him for a glimpse of what He sees and our soul will awaken to hear His call once again.

Part 5 Going deeper by slowing the pursuit of purpose

God chooses to use every part of our life experiences in His plan for our life. It is tempting to skip the necessary step of healing. But if you do, you could be setting yourself up to miss an important encounter with God.

Sometimes God wants you to slow the pursuit of purpose so that He can effectively heal you. This is done in order to be prepared to accomplish and humbly handle God’s purposes for your life. In God’s time we press on in Him but only when He has completed a work within our soul.

Life experiences have a way of developing in us the firm foundation of dependency on God if we allow God into those places. There is danger in going ahead too fast in our zeal and passion without intrinsically learning how to keep the eyes of our soul upon God.

Jesus demonstrated this continuous gaze of the soul in the direction of his Father many times in the gospels. Often we read of Him raising His eyes toward heaven and praying.

Two familiar examples are when He asked his Father to raise Lazarus from the dead and when the young lad offered up his lunch of five loaves and two fishes.

God invites us to spend time with Him and in order to do this well, we need to slow down. Time is needed for God to complete what He has begun in our lives. You don’t find time, you make time. If you don’t make time then God may use crisis points in your life as a way of catching your attention.

These God “events” are pregnant with potential. They bring us to a moment of decision, a pivotal turning point; defining moments that forever change us.

Elijah the Prophet

Elijah challenged the people: “How long are you going to sit on the fence? If God is the real God, follow him; if it’s Baal, follow him... Immediately the fire of God fell and burned up the offering, the wood, the stones, the dirt, and even the water in the trench. All the people saw it happen and fell on their faces in awed worship, exclaiming, “God is the true God! God is the true God!”

1 Kings 18:21-41 The Message

We enter this story to see God perform a miracle that Elijah had prayed for. The Lord had sent fire down from heaven to burn up the sacrifice in a mighty demonstration of His Sovereignty. We see Elijah taunting the people because he knew, from past experiences, what God was capable of doing.

A day of Miracles

A second miracle:

Ahab did it: got up and ate and drank. Meanwhile, Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bowed deeply in prayer, his face between his knees. Then he said to his young servant, “On your feet now! Look toward the sea. “He went, looked, and reported back, “I don’t see a thing.” “Keep looking,” said Eijah, “seven times if necessary. “And sure enough, the seventh time he said, “Oh yes, a cloud! But very small, no bigger than someone’s hand, rising out of the sea.” I Kings 18:42-44 The Message

On this day Elijah also witnessed the miracle of rain after years of drought. He told the people to prepare to celebrate.

A third miracle

Things happened fast. The sky grew black with wind-driven clouds, and then a huge cloudburst of rain, with Ahab hightailing it in his chariot for Jezreel. And GOD strengthened Elijah mightily. Pulling up his robe and tying it around his waist, Elijah ran in front of Ahab’s chariot until they reached Jezreel. I Kings 18: 45-46 The Message

Elijah ran like the wind or at least, faster than a horse. Three miracles of such magnitude happened in this one day of Elijah’s life.

Elijah the man

Elijah was a human being with a nature such as we have [with feelings, affections, and a constitution like ours];

James 5:17 Amplified Bible

Now we will take a look at a defining moment of his life where his pursuit of God was paused.

Then we read that Queen Jezebel sends Elijah a message, “Now I’m going to kill you!”

So how does this man of God react to this message after three powerful and potent miracles?

When Elijah saw how things were, he ran for dear life to Beersheba, far in the south of Judah. He left his young servant there and then went on into the desert another day’s journey. He came to a lone broom bush and collapsed in its shade, wanting in the worst way to be done with it all — to just die: “Enough of this, GOD! Take my life — I’m ready to join my ancestors in the grave!” Exhausted, he fell asleep under the lone broom bush. 1 Kings 19:3-5 The Message

Not quite the reaction we would have thought is it? We started this “Soul Care, God’s Way” series with the following verse in Proverbs.

WATCH OVER YOUR HEART WITH ALL DILIGENCE FOR FROM IT FLOW THE SPRINGS OF LIFE.

PROV. 4:23

God is very concerned with the condition of our hearts. Now we are going to see a glimpse of God at work, not outwardly, but in-wardly on the heart of Elijah.

Suddenly an angel woke him up and said, “Get up and eat.” Elijah looked around, and by his head was a jar of water and some baked bread. He sat up, ate and drank, then lay down and went back to sleep.

He was shaken awake again and told to “Get up and eat, or else you’ll get too tired to travel.” So Elijah sat up and ate and drank.

A Journey with God

Remember this is the man who ran faster than a chariot just a short time before. But this journey was one that would take him beyond his own strength and endurance. It would also take him away from the reliance of the supernatural gifts that God had endowed him with. Elijah was being taken on a journey that would take him 40 days and 40 nights.

Where was God taking Elijah? Back to face his enemy, Jezebel?

No, Elijah wasn’t being sent back into battle. His pursuit of God was about to be paused. There were things God needed to adjust in Elijah’s life and to do that he was to travel to Mount Horeb; a place of desolation.

A place of desolation

When Elijah reached Mount Horeb he found a cave and there he fell asleep. It is so easy to isolate ourselves when we feel wounded, rejected and alone. How often are we lured into the false security that a cave offers.

On this mountain we hear God call out “Elijah, why are you here?” God knows why but He wants to know if Elijah does. God also wanted to do a work within Elijah’s heart but that could only be accomplished if Elijah could take of his mask and be real before God.

Elijah explains that he has been very zealous for the God. (1 Kings 19:10). It’s true. Elijah had passion and zeal but his strength was from himself. He had lost perspective.

He thought he was the only one doing anything for God.

“I alone am left”. Pride had set in.

He had also fallen into that common trap where he felt responsible and it seemed like he was the only one “doing anything” for God. Listen to God’s reply:

“I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal” “I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal” 1 Kings 19:9

Pride, arrogance, presumption are traps that easily ensnare. That is why taking care of our souls is so important. We have an enemy of our soul that will take every advantage and opportunity to thwart God’s plan in any way possible.

We need to daily pour out all that which concerns us before Him. Then when we are empty of our self, He pours in that which He knows we have need of. Then, and only then, do we pour that out to others.

God’s Whisper

In this place of desolation Elijah is about to encounter God in a new way. Elijah’s experiences with God were loud, thunderous and miraculous. It took some time for Elijah to recognize that still, small voice as God’s whispering.

In God’s whisper he recognized the holiness of God in this place of desolation. He wraps his face in his mantle and steps out of the cave he was hiding in.

Elijah is learning that God is more concerned with our relationship with Him than with our service for Him.

Being accountable

Another lesson that we can pull from this story is that sometimes we have to go back the way we came. It is recognizing and acknowledging the mistakes that we have made. Being accountable for the actions we have taken.

The LORD said to him, “Go back the way you came... 1 Kings 19:15

Being in relationship with God and others

We have need of each other. This is something God demonstrated when He told Elijah to anoint Elisha to succeed him has a prophet. (I Kings 19:17)

Worksheet 5: Where are you?

Take some time to reflect on the following questions.

How would you describe your journey with God this year?

What is God whispering to you through His word?

What does “Being in relationship with God” look like for you?

If God asked you today “What are you doing here?”, how would you answer Him?

A Time of reflection

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life — you’re sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life — and place it before God as an offering.

Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God.

You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. Romans 12:1 (The Message)

Can you make a commitment to bring your everyday, ordinary life to God every day for a month?

A Time to Pray

He bids you “come”

A whispered longing is deep within my soul. I find myself seeking the One who calls my heart to “come”. My soul is drawn to seek His face.

Daily I search for Him while in this earthly place. I am but a stranger walking through this land. Yet He walks with me and holds my hand.

This journey of life, it has its place but life’s pleasures can only hold a measure of hope, or so I’m told. A taste, a glimpse is all I see of Christ’s destiny for me.

I reach, I grasp, and I press to hold that which glimmers with streets of gold. A piece of me is in that place when I was saved by heaven’s grace.

My heart is set, my course is sure, as I set sail for distant shores. The sea is rough and waves are strong, but His love will guide me on.

In Review

Soul care is the courage to leave our “cave” by responding to God’s whisper.

Part 6: Going deeper by abiding in the Vine

In our Christian walk passion can fade. Things we once loved doing taste like ashes in our mouth. Nothing we do brings lasting fruit. What has happened? We’ve lost connection with the Vine.

We have become so accustomed to the routine, the “usual” that we have lost our ability to hear Him. Like Elijah, we find ourselves on Mount Horeb, hiding in a cave.

In this quiet place His still, small voice echoes within our soul as He whispers a gentle reminder:

“My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me” John 4:34

We have gotten so caught up in being, in doing, in knowing our gifts and talents that it is our own agenda that is ruling our heart.

Our “food” is no longer to do the will of the Father but our own will. It’s time that we stopped asking, “What is God’s will for my life?” and begin exploring “What is God’s will?” In the words of Jesus, it is doing God’s will that feeds our soul.

To do God’s will we have to know His will. Sometimes we think that simple bible reading will reveal His will. There is truth in that but His will is revealed as we abide in Him.

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the Vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him bears much fruit. Apart from Me you can do nothing. John 15:4, 5

Abiding is living and residing with Him

How often do we think that putting aside a few minutes a day is sufficient? Abiding is much more than setting aside parts of our day. He wants all of our day, all of our lives.

It is not enough to know that we need to abide, if we have no idea how to abide.

Jesus gave us the illustration of a branch attached securely to a vine. Life flows from the vine into the branches and the result is that the branches will bear fruit.

Abiding in the vine means daily surrendering our lives to God and allowing Him to work in us and through us.

It means meditating on Him throughout the day and sending not only our prayers to Him, but our thoughts. It is developing the awareness that God really is with us 24/7.

Abiding Through the Word

The most important means by which we abide is the Word of God. This is His voice in our lives and He gives us His Spirit to help us understand.

By reading His word, we get to know Him better and begin to understand His purpose, His plans and His heart.

Abiding Through relationship

We share our heart with Him and He shares His heart with us. Abiding in Jesus will bring us back into the proper focus on the Lordship of Christ, the love of the Father and in touch with the Holy Spirit.

It is sharing our lives with others. Giving to others that which has been given to us.

Abiding in Him introduces us to the Holy Spirit

John 3:61

The wind of the Spirit it blows where it will.

The Spirit of God is like the wind. You cannot see the movement of the wind but you can tell where it is blowing by the signs around you; blades of grass waving, fall leaves tumbling and air currents gently moving across your face.

Sometimes the Spirit of God will move in the same way. His gentle Presence blows a sense of freshness into our lives and circumstances. Warm and gentle currents bring peace to a tired soul.

Then in stormy seasons, gale force winds whip up dust and debris ending our life into momentary confusion. We cannot see the path before our feet so we learn to walk in faith, trusting the One who holds our life in His hands.

The wind of the Spirit is governed by His sovereign will and He alone knows the seasons of our life in which He will breathe on us.

Abiding with Him through sorrows journey

In the book “Hinds Feet on High Places” by Hannah Hurnard “Much Afraid” is called to make a journey. She is given two companions to help her on this path. One is “Suffering” and the other is “Sorrow”. The lament from “Much Afraid” is, “Oh why can’t I have Joy and Peace.”

A catalyst for change

As Christians we often do not know what to make of the suffering and sorrow in our life. We either want to avoid it by thinking that with the right combination of prayer and action we can make it go away; or we sweep it under the rug and do not deal with it. However, suffering and sorrow are often a catalyst for change.

But we need to ask ourselves, “What happens deep down in the core of our very being when we face suffering and sorrow?”

- In Job we saw a stripping away until the core of his soul was revealed and his fears were brought into the light. His eyes were then opened to see God.

- When the cock crowed three times, Peter became a broken vessel. He faced his sin of pride and self-reliance. He was given the keys of the kingdom.

- Joseph began to minister while still in prison. He developed wisdom.

- Elijah experienced an emotional “rock-bottom” where he wanted to die. He discovered that God is more concerned with our relationship with Him than anything else.

Let’s take a look at Jeremiah. He learnt how to abide during dark days.

Jeremiah’s journey

I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath... Even when I call out or cry for help, he shuts out my prayer.

I have forgotten what prosperity is. So I say, “My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the LORD.”...

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him. “The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. Lamentations 3

Jeremiah experienced a journey of suffering and sorrow. There were times when he felt that his prayers were not heard. Learning to abide when the heavens are like brass means recalling that God is our portion and He is faithful.

We encourage ourselves while we wait on Him.

Worksheet 6: Resting In God

This is the heart of abiding, resting in the arms of God. Soul care involves choices. Suffering can move us towards God or away from Him.

Allowing Him to touch the shards of sorrow will take us on a journey that will change us completely. Joy and peace will come as we hope in Him, not because of a change in circumstances.

A challenge

For the next 30 days I want to challenge you.

Can you kneel each day and simply say out loud, “God you are with me”?

Matthew 1:23

The Message

They will name him Immanuel

(Hebrew for “God is with us”)

A time of reflection

Winter winds bend us as we are thrashed about until we stand like a tree with naked branches and no outward adornment. We have nothing to cover our shame and pretence. His penetrating wind has stripped us of any beauty that we thought we had. In this bare and barren place our roots go deeper into Him as we realize without Him we are nothing. We look to see where the Spirit is but no movement gives away His working. No-one can join us in this solitary place, it is for us alone. This silent place holds no comfort. This dry desert offers us no drink and our thirst is so great. Our roots search for Him because only He has living water which can quench our longing.

A time to pray

Father, at times You enter our life with gale force winds that gust and blow. Like a tree that is whipping and bowing in its force, so are we. Your cleansing hurricane loosens all that needs to be blown out of our life. Your breath blows away the last remnants that try to cling to stripped branches until we stand as a bare, stark tree before Your face.

LORD we submit our lives into Your care. Cause our roots to go down deep into Your love. Your word promises (Psalm 92:13) that those who are planted in the house of the LORD, will flourish in the courts of our God. Father, let green leaves and fruit flower once again as we learn to abide in You.

In Review

Soul care is stretching our branches up to heaven as our roots keep us firmly anchored. We abide in Him and He begins to breathe new life into bone-dry branches. Our soul waits for the wind of the Spirit to unleash its healing power. A once stark and barren tree majestically bends its leaf- laden branches giving shade to other weary travelers and offers fruit to the hungry. “Taste and see that the Lord is good”, has become our life’s story.

Part 7: Seeing what God sees

Through this series we have learnt that God is at work in our lives. Our life is a “story in progress” that is still being unfolded and molded. There is a defining story that is ours to tell as we see how God has used our past to draw us closer to Him. We are learning to be transparent before Him and before others.

You have spent time with God taking off your mask and being real before Him as never before. There are emotions that have been uncovered and healed as you have brought them to the Father.

A work of grace has taken place. You are learning to abide in the vine. You find yourself more aware of the intents and motives of your heart. You begin to see your own sin quicker. Your areas of weakness are so glaringly obvious to you.

This makes you wonder why God would ever call you into service for Him.

Whatever is God thinking?

I’m sure Gideon had the same question that you do. With the natural eye, Gideon appears to be a weak and timid man and has many excuses why he thinks God cannot use him.

And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house. Judges 6:15 (King James Version)

Yet God calls Gideon a “mighty man of valor”. (Judges 6:12 KJV) I can imagine Gideon looking over his shoulder to see who God is talking to and then asking “you can’t mean me?”

Again in verse 14 God repeated “Go, in this thy might”. Gideon’s response in verse 15 reveals how inadequate Gideon feels, “I am the least.”

What does God see?

Sometimes we wonder what God sees in us because we cannot see it ourselves. Do you know that God did not give up on Gideon even when he demanded a sign for God to prove Himself?

Here was a man that wrestled with self-doubt. Even after a supernatural encounter and putting out a fleece (the sign), Gideon still had doubts about what God was calling him to do.

However, God used this timid hero to roust out the Midianites thereby delivering Israel from their seven year oppression. There must have been something in Gideon that had been proven up to this point.

What God was calling him to do was a pivotal, life-changing event for the nation of Israel.

What did God see in Gideon?

The answer is found in Judges 6:25-27 and Judges 7:2.

Judges 6:25-17 Gideon had to deal with his sin. God told him to tear down the altar to Baal that his father had built and then to build an altar to God. Gideon then offered a burnt sacrifice.

Judges 7:2 Gideon realized his own weakness and that it was not his strength but God’s.

God has called you precisely because you do see your own sin and weakness.

You are someone that He can show Himself strong through. Because you have been able to be real before God and yourself, you now understand what Paul meant in 2 Corinthians 12:9:

He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

What does God see? He sees you.

Earlier in the series we realized that God does not waste any-thing in our life and that our journey with him is very personal. We cannot judge each other’s journeys or compare one with each other.

However, God does want us to share our story with others.

You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit which will abide; (John 15:16).

Life experiences have given us the substance we need to minister to others. God has been testing and proving that which He has deposited into your soul.

Are you willing to step out after hearing God whisper to you as He did to Gideon “Have not I sent you?”

Are you willing to accept what God sees; someone who sees their own sin and weakness and who reaches out for His grace and His strength?

God has a plan, and we are part of it. Your story is your testimony of the good news; that Jesus is real and is at work in our lives.

Through the journey Soul care, God’s way, we find that God is no longer a concept or a “out there” God. We have found Him to be a Person with whom we are really in touch with.

Our soul is willing to pause in its pursuit of God. We are willing to slow down and to travel at God’s pace.

Psalm 37:34 (New Living Translation)

Put your hope in the Lord. Travel steadily along His path...

Gifts & Callings

Gideon answered God with a few excuses and each one God patiently addressed. At times we have difficulty acknowledging that there are things that hold us back from stepping forward into God’s plan. We also may think that we don’t have the “gifts” to do what God is asking.

God does not put square pegs into round holes. He knows what His church needs and He knows where you fit. Sometimes we think we know where because of a personality test, gifting test that we have taken.

Power of God

These tests highlight personality traits, strengths and weakness but many don’t take into account how the Holy Spirit can radically change personalities; or how God can supernaturally endow what is needed to get a specific task done.

I am not implying that this type of test be thrown out; many have stood the test of time and they do have a place. But they can have the tendency to pigeon-hole people and can inhibit growth.

There is another dimension that is important to be aware of with spiritual gifts and callings: God wants us to rely on His strength not our own. So many of these tests leave us with the attitude of “I have the gift of teaching, therefore I should teach” or “I have a mercy gift, so I cannot teach.”

Faithfulness in the mundane

As we have seen with Joseph, God rewards faithfulness. Many times He will increase that which He has already given to you and He may move you into an area that you thought you had no “gifting” for.

It is easy to see the pitfalls in always being in a place that utilizes the natural gifts that you have because there is the danger of relying on your own ability. Now your strength becomes a weakness because it can result in pride and self-sufficiency.

There has been so much emphasis on exploring our own “personal gifting” along with the question “What is God’s will for my life”. Maybe it is healthier for our soul to ask instead “What is God’s will?” Then situation by situation we can ask Him to equip us accordingly for this purpose.

Square pegs

Let’s turn ahead a few years in the life of Gideon. He has learnt how to appropriate the strength of God to do tasks that he felt “uncalled” for. In Judges 7 there is a story that illustrates how God put the right pegs into the right holes. God had a specific purpose in mind that He spoke to Gideon about but there was a problem:

The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands.” Judges 7:.2 (NIVJ)

Gideon had 32,000 men when the challenge was put forth and the numbers began to decrease until 10,000 remained. If these 10,000 men were to take a “Spiritual Giftedness” test you would find that they fit the profile of a soldier and had the skills to wage a war.

However God was looking for something more and it was the 300 soldiers that drank the water by lapping it..

“.. with their hands to their mouths. (Judges 7:6 Amplified).

All the rest got down on their knees to drink.

God was looking for soldiers who were alert and aware; ones that had been seasoned through previous battles and knew that it took more than their own strength and ability to fight. These 300 soldiers were seasoned because they realized that their ability was only in Him.

Round holes

Why did God use this winnowing process with Gideon and the soldiers? The answer:

“In order that Israel may not boast... that her own strength has saved her.” Judges 7:2 (NIV)

Our own strength can trip us up. God doesn’t put square pegs into round holes but in His sovereignty He can smooth off those sharp corners in order to make us fit. He will do this through seasons of brokenness so that we, along, with Paul can say

“For when I am weak in human strength, then am I truly strong in 2 Corinthians 12:10 (Amplified).

It doesn’t matter if you are a square peg or a round one; God will mold you and use you where He sees fit as you seek His will and draw on His ability, not your own.

In the words of Corrie Ten Boom, “It is not my ability, but my response to God’s ability that counts.”

Worksheet 7: Forward Thinking

This worksheet will focus on the steps you need to take in order to move forward towards what God sees in you. Moving forward involves being clear and specific in your thoughts.

Here are some questions that will help:

1. Be clear.

What is it that you feel God is stirring within you?

What will that look like 3 months from now, 6 months, a year and 5 years?

2. Set goals. Be precise as you write them down.

3. Listen to what your life is telling you. Usually it will be a reflection of themes already woven in your life now.

4. Face all of your excuses. Realize that you are relying on God’s strength.

5. Focus in spite of failure. There will be ups and downs. Failure can be a tool to help us grow if we embrace it and learn from it.

For example:

1. I feel that God is stirring me to write. I am always writing down my thoughts in journals.

2. For the next three months I will explore opportunities to write.

3. I can try writing these on a blog.

4. I can let people know that I have a blog.

5. I will ask friends to read it and give feedback.

6. For the next year I can also enroll in a writing course or find resources on-line.

7. After a year I will look at what I write and define further:

8. Do I write fiction, poetry, devotionals?

9. Do I write for men, women, children, leaders?

10. After deciding exactly what type of writing that I do then I can find the magazines, publishers that look for this kind of writing.

11. I can start sending articles to on-line magazines.

12. I realize that there will be “rejections” but I will continue to take the critiques in order to learn.

A Time for Reflection

With thoughts of God I woke this day. From depths of slumber I heard Him say. “I think of you, my child, my own as I sit here on My throne. My thoughts to you are like grains of sand as I hold you in My hands. Beauty for ashes is My gift to you, For the path I’ve walked you through”.

The dark recedes with shimmering light as the wonder of His words pierce the night. “Take the precious from the vile” Echoes His voice within my soul And “know that I have made you whole”.

On bended knee, I slip from bed and thank Him for the words He said.

A Time to Pray

Father, I ask that You continue to give me wisdom as I seek to follow Your will. I want to pursue You diligently. As I begin to step out, in faith, I ask for Your direction. Always remind me that You are more concerned about the health of my soul than my service. Let me never go ahead of You.

In Review

Soul care is being able to see what God sees when He looks at you; someone who is accepted and loved.

It is also growing in that which God has given to us and sharing it with others; helping them to see that they also are accepted and loved.

Part 8: Maintaining a deeper walk with Him by practicing the presence of God.

There are pivotal moments in our life story that we know without a doubt that God has done a deep and personal work. He has touched us and changed us. We have seen and experienced things that have taken our breath away.

Yet many times it is the everydayness of life that will trip us up. The peace and calm can be seductive in that we forget. We forget to be diligent. We forget that Satan is still seeking “whom he may devour”. We forget to spend time with the One who loves us the most.

There has to be deliberate diligence in our walk with God. So often we are caught up with the thought that God has given us a specific and special purpose to fulfill and so He does. Yet we lose sight of the call God gives to practice His presence.

He continually calls us to a closer walk with Him. Our desire should be to walk closer to Him than we were the day before; a longing to follow His path each and every day. Ever closer to Him is both our direction and our goal. This inner walk is a private one where we are very much aware of God being with us in the present moment and day.

- He desires to have our attention so that He can share Himself with us.

- He desires to reveal how He first loved us.

- We come to know Him by being with Him.

- As we get to know Him we love Him more.

- He becomes a treasure that our heart will always seek.

David’s secret

The psalmist David knew the secret to practicing the presence of God.

- He cried before Him.

- He expressed anger at God when he was hurt.

- He encouraged himself in the Lord.

- He talked to his soul “Why are you cast down?”

- He prayed.

- He fasted.

- He submitted.

- He was accountable for his sin and sought forgiveness.

- He had advisors, even though he didn’t always listen.

- He learnt from mistakes and failures.

- He returned back the way he came when he went ahead of God.

- He accepted that God was with him in seasons of blessing and sorrow.

- David knew when to fight.

- He knew the power of praise.

- He stepped out as a small boy with stones to fight a giant.

- He prepared to build by setting materials aside.

- He was willing to lay these plans aside as he realized that God’s will was for Solomon to build the temple.

- He did not take “ownership” of the blue-prints. He gave them to Solomon.

- He learnt to seek God’s will, not his own.

David’s heart

At the centre of David’s heart and soul was a core value that he learnt to steer his life by.

“I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will dwell securely”. Psalm 16:8-9

David had a heart after God and he understood what it meant to abide in the Vine. His greatest secret was that he knew how to practice the presence of God.

This didn’t mean that he was perfect and never sinned again. But he quickly returned to the lover of his soul.

Developing a closer walk

A closer walk requires what Brother Lawrence calls “Holy Habits”. These habits help us to build up of core spiritual practices so that they become the foundation of our lives.

God’s way of caring for our soul means that we need to carve time out in our day so that we can meet with Him. Here are the six “Holy Habits” that will keep our soul healthy.

Holy Habits

The Word of God

The Bible is God-breathed and is more than mere principals to live by. Its words will connect us with the Person it proclaims. It brings us comfort, correction, hope and direction.

Prayer

Turning our thoughts towards God;

- to thank Him;

- to ask;

- to tell;

- to be attentive;

- to listen.

God wants to hear our prayers and He also wants to reveal His heart.

Spiritual Friendship

We need each other. Is anyone walking with you in your soul’s journey? Reach out and make a call, to contact someone so that they may pray with you, encourage you, hear your confession, or just to sit with you.

Then you do the same to others that you know have need of friendship. The grace that you have received from Him is what you now give out to others. Spiritual friendships help us to grow and to stay open to God.

Solitude & Silence

Life has many demands that pull upon our time. Jesus is our example and He set time aside to connect with His Father. Alone with God is what our soul needs.

In those quiet spaces of time that we carve out to spend with Him is when we hear His voice the clearest.

Meditation

We need time when we allow God to search our soul. “That the words of our mouth and the meditation of our heart are acceptable in His sight.”

Journaling your thoughts will help you to remember what God is sharing with you.

- What is He saying to you?

- What is He revealing about your attitude, your lifestyle?

In simplicity and humility we sit before Him and “mull” upon His words. We learn to align our life to His will.

Worship

God reveals Himself to those that earnestly seek Him (Deuteronomy 4:29). Use worship to express your emotions towards Him. Let your mouth express the words that your spirit feels. Give to Him the deep cries of your spirit.

Learn how to soak in God’s presence through your private worship. Give to Him the sacrifices of praise.

Practicing his presence

The closer walk with God involves practicing His presence. This could be considered the single most important part of our lives. When we practice this, we find ourselves hungering for it more and more.

God has promised that as we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us and we will experience His presence in ever increasing measures. Come, He calls you to meet with Him in this secret place.

A time to reflect

It is so easy to forget what God has done; even those pivotal moments that change us forever. They begin to fade as other things crowd out there importance. This is why God instructed the children of Israel to build a memorial of remembrance after the crossing of Jordan in Joshua 3 & 4. Twelve stones were laid, one by each tribe, as a permanent legacy to what God had done for them.

I, too, have stones of remembrance. Yes, I write on stones. These stones are my visual reminder of God’s promises to me. They represent ages, stages and life events where the word of God has been an anchor holding me fast during storms. On these stones are scriptures that represent a fresh work in my life; a new turning point. They are tangible reminders that I can touch and hold. Their words bring comfort, strength and hope.

I read these stones and I remember all what God has done. They remind me of all that He will do and all that He has promised. How can you remember what God has done for you?

A time to pray

My life is encroached by huge demands, so Lord I put myself into Your hands. Daily I come before Your throne to give to You this heart of stone.

Father, I pour out to You all the concerns and worries that I have stored within and Oh Lord, cleanse me of every sin.

Now as I sit in this quiet place, my heart is stilled before Your grace. This empty heart You will refill according to the Father’s will.

In Review

Soul care is realizing that the health of our soul is foundational to how we live. Our soul is a living part of us and needs to be nurtured by the presence of God. Soul care is realizing that as we take time to care for our own souls by practicing the presence of God diligently, then the world can be transformed by one life sharing with another.

Addendum

Chapter Summaries

Part 1 Taking off the mask and becoming vulnerable

Deep within, our soul is crying out for a deeper reality with God. Somehow we have lost our way. We cannot hear His voice. It is only when a crisis brings our life to a crashing halt that our self-deception is exposed and we begin to see that nothing really matters in life, but God. All pretence and self-protection is ripped away and we stand, like Adam and Eve, “naked and afraid” with the same desire to hide ourselves. Our soul, the “hidden person of the heart” (1 Pete3:4 NASB) is no longer hidden to our own gaze. God has always seen our true self and now He wants us to see; it is when we truly see ourselves that transformation can really take place. Soul care is a journey that will bring “truth to our inward parts” (Gen 30:10). Restoration of the soul is what soul care is about. It is also about seeing the threads of purpose that God has woven throughout our live and knowing how to respond to His work by developing a deeper relationship with Him. The health of our soul does matter.

Part 2 What is your life story telling you

God calls us to be in relationship with others yet it is in these relationships that we are hurt the most. To protect against further pain we put up barriers and defenses. We learn to live behind masks and pretences. This is exhausting. Becoming real before God is the first step towards authentic relation-ship with God and then, with others.

Part 3 Becoming engaged with God and our real self

Soul Care is looking at your life story; the struggles, pain and triumphs; the past and the present and inviting God into all of the broken pieces and allowing Him to heal those deep, dark places. Our stories are powerful and we need to know them in order to share them. We can only “hear” our stories when we sit in quietness and solitude before Him, ready to hear and receive.

Part 4 How God develops our life story

When we allow God into the deepest, darkest places of our soul we are set free from bondage and are healed from the specter of the past. We begin to see our story as one of redemption; a powerful testimony of God’s grace.

Part 5 Going deeper by slowing the pursuit of purpose

Soul Care is developing a deeper relationship with God by spending time listening to Him. Connecting in a real way with God will awaken our souls to hear His call once again. Our soul will be renewed as we realize that He is transforming us from the inside out. If God asks “Why are you here?”, do you know the answer? Being diligent in caring for our soul by making time for Him in our lives will give us an answer to this question

Part 6 Going deeper by abiding in the vine

Attending to our soul will allow God’s healing rain to the dry places of our soul, bringing forth new life. Soul care is not rushing through what God has placed before you. Time is a tool that God will use to develop character within us. Time is also something that God requires of us. We need to make time for Him. Our soul needs to drink frequently from the well that only God can give. We need to learn how to abide in the vine.

Part 7 What does God see

Soul care helps us to keep our roots firmly rooted in Him so that as we grow in “outward” ministry we do not become top-heavy. Our growth is maintained by the “life sap” flowing up from our roots. We begin to accept how God sees us and in obedience we step out further into what He has for us. Our soul is a living part of us that needs to be nurtured by His presence.

Part 8 Maintaining a deeper walk with Him

Do you see yourself as accepted and beloved by God? It is by deliberating placing ourselves in the presence of God that we begin to see ourselves as He sees us.

For those in leadership

Leaders are very busy people and, in the frenzied activity of ministry, it is easy to lose sight of what is really of value; our own relationship with God. God cares about your soul more than your ministry. He may decide to slow down the pursuit of ministry just like He did with Elijah. Leadership is often thought of as raising others up and pouring into them so they, in turn, can pour out to others. However, leadership begins with leading ourselves.

This means that leaders make sure that they “walk the talk”. A leader “leads themselves” by taking responsibility in laying a good foundation. Leading ourselves is deliberately connecting to Christ, having spiritual disciplines in our life and submitting to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

A leader needs to build a good solid foundation before they begin to train others. Leading ourselves is being aware of the responsibility involved in leadership; so a leader will work hard at maintaining a life of integrity before God.

Leadership also means taking time to care for our own soul. This takes time, energy and commitment. As a leader it is important to be able to share the hope that is within us. It is our on-going testimonies that inspire those we lead, not the lectures nor the insights. It is how we walk and live the talk.

Do you know what God has really been doing in your life? Soul care is taking the time to find out what God has ordained for you before you were even born. He will reveal to you how His grace has been at work all the days of your life. Then, you have a life-story which will encourage others and draw them closer to Him.

Caring for your soul is foundational to how you live and how you lead. God invests so much in you as a leader and asks that we gift Him with our time. Ministry is like an iceberg. It is the outward, visible part that receives the most attention. It is the visible that is often used to measure “success” or “failure”. But it is the bottom part of the iceberg, the part hidden from view, that God is concerned with.

The “bigger part” is what Oswald Chambers refers to as he wrote, “My worth to God in public is what I am in private.”

This manuscript has been written for women who are involved in ministry: within their church, small group leaders, public speakers. The material is also suitable to be used for teaching and workshop purposes.

Table of Contents

What is Soul Care

Soul Care is a journey

Soul Care takes time

Soul Care, God’s way

Soul Care involves three stages

Part 1 Taking off the mask and becoming vulnerable

We really need to get in touch with what we feel

Inviting the Holy Spirit to search our heart

Worksheets: Emotions a, b, c, d.

Part 2 What is your life story telling you

God is a Master Gardener at work in our hearts

The Preparing

The Planting

The Process

Worksheets: The Me I See a, b, c

Threads of purpose

Defining story

Part 3 Becoming engaged with God and our real self

Job’s fear

Job’s response: I’m Ready to Shut Up and Listen

Seeing God

Proven Faith

Worksheet 3:

Becoming Engaged with God and our real self

Part 4 How God develops our life story

Joseph the Dreamer: God gives a dream

Joseph the Favored: Effects of childhood

Joseph the Braggart: Immaturity in the calling

The call of God is progressive

Part 5 Going deeper by slowing the pursuit of purpose

There is danger in going ahead too fast

Elijah’s day of miracles

A Journey with God

A Place of desolation

Elijah hears God Whisper

Worksheets: Where are you?

Part 6 Going deeper by abiding in the vine

Abiding through the word

Abiding through relationship

Abiding in Him through sorrows journey

A catalyst for change

Jeremiah’s journey

Worksheet 7: Resting in God

Part 7 What does God see

Whatever is He thinking?

What did God see is Gideon?

God wants us to share our story

Gifts & Callings

Square pegs

Round holes

Worksheet 7: Forward Thinking

Part 8 Maintaining a deeper walk with Him

He desires to have our attention

David’s secret

David’s heart

Developing a closer walk

Holy Habits

Practicing His presence

Addendum

Chapter Summaries

For those in leadership