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protect (something) by interposing material that prevents the loss of heat or the intrusion of sound.
When we think back to the house we’ve been building for our souls we remember the foundation: a relationship with Jesus. We recall the walls composed of personal boundaries of protection. Windows to let light in and doors to let people in. We added the roof: a covering of prayer over all of it.
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Ta-Da! We have a house. It’s nice to look at. It’s solidly constructed and built to last. But we want more than just a building, don’t we?
We want to take that house and make it a home.
A vital component for any house that is transforming into a home is good insulation.
In other words: “a protection of something by interposing material that prevents the loss of heat or the intrusion of sound.”
Our souls ache for insulation within their walls, too.
- Something to keep the cold out and the warmth in.
- Something to dull the sound of the outside world.
- Something that feels safe for us. For others.
The soul longs to be wrapped in an insulation of these “interposing materials” :
True Love
Sustainable Peace
Refreshing Simplicity
Defined Purpose
Personal Identity
Solid Truth
Unwavering Security
The Hope of Eternity
It’s the insulation He intended for our souls to crave, meant to draw us straight to His own heart.
But we don’t tend to go to the right source for that type of insulation. In our desperate attempt at insulating our own souls, we keep running to what the world advertises as the answer. All those shiny, pretty, tantalizing things: Money. Relationships. Power. Success. Stuff. Status. Beauty.
Those definitions of insulation are faulty at best, and their promises are nothing more than mirages. Deceptive. Empty. Disappointing. Not the type of components we actually need for establishing our soul’s safe, quiet, warm retreat.
When we try to fill our inner walls with the world’s cheap version of insulation, our souls feel the effects, or lack thereof. The cold from outside still chills us. The outside noise continues to rage in. We are left feeling even more exposed to the elements of circumstance and a cruel world.
Why don’t we run to God?
Why don’t we believe in the promises that come directly from the Creator of our souls, the Author of our lives and the Seer, Holder and Keeper of our futures?
Why don’t we respond to the God who will never lie to us? The God who invites us to find everything our souls are looking for in Him?
Matthew 11:28-29 – “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Peace)
Deuteronomy 31:8 – Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you. (Security)
Jeremiah 31:3 – I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself. (Love)
Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Purpose)
Romans 6:23b – …the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Eternity)
1 Peter 2:9 – But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (Identity)
John 14:6 – Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” (Truth)
Luke 10:41-42 – “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. (Simplicity)
When the promises of God fill the walls of our souls, we are safe, regardless of what comes at us. What happens on the outside doesn’t affect what we’ve established on the inside.
That’s why Horatio Spafford could pen the hymn “It Is Well With My Soul” even after the horror of losing everything he owned in the Great Chicago Fire and then experiencing the indescribable loss of five of his children. No doubt, his body, mind and emotions were devastated. Wrecked. Destroyed.
But His soul was intact.
He had insulated his soul’s home with the promises of His Creator. He found everything he needed in God long before tragedy struck.
His soul’s home was safe.
He took this verse to heart – Romans 8:38 – And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow–not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.
– Is your soul’s home insulated or are you still living in a loud, cold environment susceptible to the outside forces of circumstance and change?
– Have you used up all the resources the world offers to fill the gaps in those walls and now realize it was all smoke and mirrors? False advertising that has left your soul’s house still vulnerable, empty, cold and loud?
– Can you take a second look at the beauty of who God says He is, what He will provide and who we are in Him? Can you respond by trusting Him?
Just a thought and a prayer,
Your Soul Sister
J
