The Soul Room
“My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.”
And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”
I am reading such a good book right now, and one paragraph that I read last night truly struck me. It made me positively salivate in longing for what the author calls the “Soul Room.”
“In the Soul Room--the room too often ignored in our efforts to lead--the focus shifts from me to God. I find myself caught up in His majesty and embraced by His compassionate presence. In the Soul Room, God speaks to me as His friend. He joins in my excitement about leadership and ministry. He provides understanding for my struggles, my stumbles, my failures, and my sin. He speaks words of forgiveness, healing, and acceptance to my broken and burdened heart. He speaks words of hope to my discouragement and disillusionment. He refines my character, and He fires my imagination. In the Soul Room, I continually rediscover His love, His grace, and His refreshment. In the Soul Room, I become a worshiper of God. And in the Soul Room, the Father, the Son, and Spirit form me into an effective leader for Their kingdom.” --The Spiritual Formation of Leaders, by Chuck Miller
This morning I realize why I was frustrated for an hour trying to “find” the inspiration to write. I want to journal, I want to write. I want to be inspired. But unless there is time spent with Inspiration, writing is sour. Fatigue sits behind my eyes and grinds at my stony brain. My body aches to sit and be still with the One who “fires my imagination,” and unless I sit in the Soul Room not looking for a topic, but looking for Him, I shall remain uninspired.
Last night I read Psalm 27 again, and I found deep wells of fresh water in it’s words. “The one thing I ask of the Lord--the thing I seek most--is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple....My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.””
Lord, I am coming...
Oh, my Soul, What Grace...
Thursday, February 28, 2008
This is a painting that I had on a small hand mirror as a child. I cannot find who the artist is, but it brings back such fond memories of sitting and staring at the person that I would know as my Savior. I see him knocking on the door to my Soul Room...
