Post #18 -- Feeding the Soul

I woke up this morning with a rather troubling question on my mind which I believe God put there.  It went something like, “Don, is your focus these days primarily on allowing My thoughts to feed your soul … or is it on allowing TV talk show hosts and YouTube videos to fill your brain with lots of disturbing current events?”  

Frankly now that I think about it, the first part of that question  generally energizes me, gives me hope and purpose, fills me with awe and wonder, and helps me thrive.  However, the second part usually tends to anger me, cause anxiety and confusion, weakens me, and leaves me rather lost and hopeless.

After allowing these words written on this page to stare back at me for a while, I found myself saying to myself — why in the world would I not clearly focus continually on allowing God’s thoughts and words to feed my soul and less on news anchors and the disastrous spin they tend to put on the news to fill my brain? 

Dear Reader, I am being very open and honest here — and quickly admit I do not have all the answers.  But, I am deeply convicted over the need for my soul to be fed by God more than my brain to be filled by the current news.  I’m not there yet — and a big purpose for writing this post is to help me process this conviction and hopefully come up with some practical steps to live out this conviction.  Also I want to be clear that this is my journey … or I should say, Marilyn’s and my journey.  I’m not trying to project my convictions on anyone else.  This is simply an aspect of our journey that I need to process for myself and my peace of mind.  While I generally write from a first person perspective, Marilyn and I are journeying together and she is with me on everything said here.

Let me process in turn each of the two parts of the question at the beginning of this post.

ALLOWING GOD TO FEED MY SOUL

By “feeding my soul” I mean focusing on thoughts that go deep into the innermost parts of my being.  Thoughts that invariably motivate me to desire more of God and a deep intimacy with Him.  Thoughts that cause me to desire to align myself with God’s plan for my life as clearly outlined in His Word.  Thoughts that result in peace, joy, and purpose.

Without doubt, God is the one who “feeds the soul”. He makes it happen, but I still have a part to play in that process.  My part is to truly desire that feeding and then to make myself available to God so He can feed me.  Saying that I’m too busy or I’m too tired or I’m needed elsewhere simply doesn’t hack it.

As I reflect on this, it occurs to me that in previous posts I’ve already identified many of the practical steps that can potentially help me become available to God so that He can feed my soul — steps like:

Carving out time in my day to spend some time alone with God in solitude, reading His Word, and meditating on what I’m hearing from Him.

Memorizing key passages from God’s Word so that I have these thoughts stored in my brain and on my tongue for instant use as needed.

Surrounding myself with quality inspirational music throughout the day.

Being sensitive to thoughts from God that come from the environment around me throughout the day.

Hanging out with friends who desire the same focus for their lives.

These are some of the activities that draw me closer to God and allow Him to feed my soul with the spiritual food I need to follow Him and feel fulfilled in the midst of chaos.

ALLOWING THE NEWS TO FILL MY BRAIN

On the other hand, obsessively focusing on current events is just that — spending lots of time listening to and reading what others are saying about all that’s happening around our country and the world these days.  It’s not simply catching up on a brief snapshot of the news so as to be a responsible, knowledgeable, and conversant citizen.  Instead it’s endlessly listening to talk show hosts and their panels of expert consultants spin the news with their opinions.

Google the internet and you’ll find that surveys show that more than half of all Americans say the news causes them stress, and that many people report feeling anxiety, fatigue or sleep loss as a result.  Yet one in 10 adults checks the news every hour, and fully 20% of Americans report “constantly” monitoring their social media feeds — which often exposes them to the latest news headlines, whether they like it or not.  Things are out of control!

Personally I find that my passion for God and spiritual things are inversely related to my focus on the news and its spin-doctors.  The greater the news focus the less I’m inclined to desire to walk closely with God.  

Somehow the news has an uncanny way of crowding out my time with the Lord, desensitizing me to the voice of the Lord, and generally leaving me spiritually passionless.

EXERCISING DISCIPLINE

Clearly I thrive when God feeds my soul, not when the news anchor fills my brain!  

But here’s the tension.  While my first priority is to continually allow God to fill my soul, I continue to believe He would also want me to be adequately aware of the local, national and world news so that I can converse intelligently about it, fervently pray over it, and discern action that God would have us take.  

I believe as sincere followers of Jesus we need to do both — allow Him the freedom to feed our souls, but also stay abreast of the current culture so that we can “stand for righteousness” as appropriate in the midst of the many cultural issues facing us today.  

For us as followers of Jesus, this means staying focused on the activities that feed our souls while exercising great discipline in controlling the intake of disturbing news.  

Some of our friends have completely stopping watching the news.  That is not our goal. But we do see the need to moderate our intake of the news.  Here are four personal standards Marilyn and I are seeking to implement in our lives to do this:

1. Find a good objective news source and use it to stay abreast of the news.  Possibly only scan the headlines via an app.
2. Avoid having the TV blaring during the day as background ambience.
3. Seek to maximize the use of quality music for background inspiration and enjoyment.
4. Find a friend who will provide us with some accountability in following through on these guidelines.

Time will tell whether or not we achieve success here.

By the way, I suspect God may have also asked the psalmist the two-part question launched at the beginning of this post.  His response back to God is recorded in Psalm 119:37 as expressed in the Passion Transition —

“Help me turn my eyes away from illusions so that I pursue only that which is true; drench my soul with life as I walk in your path.” 

My prayer is simply: “Lord, turn my eyes (and ears) away from unprofitable news reports and instead feed my soul as I walk in your path.”

STANDING ON THE WORD

I truly believe it’s when we allow God to fill our souls with His Word and then stand on that Word that we truly have the ability to effectively moderate our news intake and stand for what is biblically right as needed in our chaotic world.  As we allow God to feed our souls, He gives us the wisdom, ability, and discretion to properly discern our response to the unrighteous culture today.  Will we stand solidly on the Word of God that He feds into our souls or will it be on the plethora of opinions of people around us?

Personally I am renewing my commitment to be solidly grounded in God’s Word as I allow Him to feed my soul.  I pray, Dear Reader, that you will do the same.  Then we will 1) experience the deep sense of peace and contentment knowing that we’re in alignment with God’s plan for our lives, and 2) we will have ability to gracefully present biblical answers as we engage a culture that desperately needs to experience the power of the resurrected Jesus Christ.

That, to me, is thriving!

MY RESPONSE BACK TO GOD

Thanks, Lord, for that two-part question.  I clearly feel fulfilled and thrive when you feed my soul, not when the news fills my brain.  Yet I also confess that many times my priorities become distorted and I spend more time watching the news and less time in your Word.  Forgive me.  Help me to truly make allowing you to feed my soul a top priority.  Help me to solidly stand on your Word as you do that.  Please give me the wisdom to know the level of news intake that is appropriate for me, the discipline to moderate my intake of that news, and discernment on how to respond to it all to your glory.  Thanks!  In Jesus name I pray. Amen.