These are troubling times. The world is in upheaval. It’s a time of uncertainty and fear and just not knowing what’s next. It’s also a time to realize that as much as we like to think we are, we aren’t in control. God is.
I believe that it’s a time where we can really plug back into what’s important in our lives. It’s a time of renewal and it’s a time to revive our souls. As I’ve been thinking about this, I decided that it was time for me to get back to my roots of this podcast, which actually was called Reviving Your Soul from the start. That’s another story for another day, but I want to bring back to you why I started this podcast and why I think it’s important that we really look at our lives in this time of renewal. So sit back and enjoy it. I think you will appreciate where I was coming from at that time and hopefully, you’ll be inspired to make some changes in your life now that we have this opportunity to step back.
We all have it. That little voice that calls to us to be the best we can be. The one that urges us to step up, to jump in, to go for it, to give more, to be more. Some heed the call, but some don’t. It’s too hard. It makes us uncomfortable. It will make my life complicated. Others hear that little voice and think it’s a call to be great. According to the world’s standards, we think we need to work harder to be more, to do more, and that we can never be enough so we just keep trying and trying.
Sadly, many believe it’s all about the car we drive, the amount of money we make, the balance in our checkbook or bank account, the house we live in, or the vacations we take. Others still never hear the voice because they are so busy going a hundred miles an hour in every direction that they never sit still long enough to hear God’s voice calling to them. They have so much clutter and so much noise in their lives that they find it comforting and they don’t even know how to deal with the quiet moments, so they just avoid them. I know I’ve been in each of these scenarios and I will talk about my experiences in the next podcast, but today I want to talk about why I’m creating Reviving Your Soul. There are a lot of really great Christian broadcasts out there, but I think that it’s important to do this show now because the worldview is leading Christians astray.
This has become evident to me since I retired from a 30-year career in housing finance to become a coach a little over a year ago. What I found on this journey since launching my business is that doing business is hard and my standard, “I’ve got this, don’t worry about it,” response really was not working at all. As I started really doing a lot of soul searching and I prayed more and I turned to the Bible for answers that I just didn’t seem to be getting from the rest of the world. What I discovered was that the answer that I thought I knew to be true, wasn’t. I had called myself a Christian most of my life, but I’d never really surrendered it all to God. Most of us don’t because we really want to keep control.
We want to call the shots in our lives. Two comments that I heard recently really propelled me to search deeper. The first one was, “You don’t need that dirty old book,” and the other one was, “I have my intuition to guide me. I don’t need to read the Bible.” In both cases. I couldn’t help but ask, “How can we know if we’re following God’s guidance or the world’s if we don’t read His Word?” The Bible warns us in many places that there will be many false doctrines and I think one that is impacting our world today is the lie that tells us we don’t need to be in scripture to be a good Christian or to have a good life, and in some ways that is true. There are millions of really nice people out there doing good work, going to church every week, and living in prosperity. But are they living in truth?
They never question if what the person at the pulpit is telling them is true or not. I mean, in reality, would they be leading us astray? I don’t believe they do intentionally, but they are getting a lot of help to lead us astray. That is why we need to be in the Word ourselves.
One of my favorite scenes in a movie is in the movie God’s Not Dead, where the son of a woman with dementia is visiting her and he’s really challenging her faith because there she was after living her whole life for Christ and she had dementia so bad. She didn’t even know that that was him sitting there visiting with her and he admitted that he was an evil person. He’d done a lot of bad things in his life, but he had the “perfect life.”
Her response stops me in my tracks every time I hear it. She said, “Sometimes the devil allows people to live a life free of trouble because he doesn’t want them turning to God. Sin is like a jail cell, except that it is so nice and so comfy that there doesn’t seem to be any reason to leave. The doors are wide open until one day time runs out, the cell doors slam shut and suddenly it’s too late.”
My wish for you is that you will come to the Word through this podcast, that you will revive your soul and leave that jail cell before it’s too late. I call this show reviving your soul because in Psalm 19 starting in verse seven states it very, very well. It says,
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.
The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
The commandments of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight into life.
Reverence for the Lord is pure, lasting forever.
The laws of the Lord are true, each one is fair.
They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold.
They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb.
They are warning to those who hear them;
there are great rewards for those who obey them.
So many think that the lies something that keeps us from having fun, but these verses show quite the opposite. They show that God’s laws revive us, make us wise, and bring joy to our hearts. They give us insights. They warn us and they reward us. God’s laws provide light to our path and a guide to follow rather than change that holds us captive. They point at success to guide us and they also warn us of any upcoming danger. Throughout the weeks ahead, I will be discussing how we need to live in alignment with our values and become the best version of ourselves, how we need to nourish our minds, our hearts, our bodies, and our spirits by creating healthy habits, relationships, and space to listen to God. We will explore life balance and what that means, how to let go of fear and self-doubt, anger and regret, and embrace forgiveness for ourselves and for others.
We will also explore ways to live in God’s will and fully learned to trust Him, especially in times of trouble. And lastly, we will discuss what it means to live in abundant life and what it means to have it all. During the upcoming shows. I will share thoughts, inspirations, questions, scriptures, and devotions about things that help us feel alive, feel drawn to the truth or reflects God’s presence in our lives. We’ll talk about a variety of topics, sometimes following an outline that I’ve developed and others going off script and talking about what’s on my heart that week. Primarily, we will be focusing on living our true purpose and living in alignment with God’s will so that we can each live our full potential. We can have a more meaningful life and we can become a better version of ourselves each day and some episodes I will be visiting with others to find out what stirs their soul.
Some names may be ones that you know and others may not, but in either case, hopefully, by the end of the episode, you will feel like you’ve seen a glimpse of how they live in God’s truth. Thank you for joining me on this journey. As I step out in faith and I follow that little voice in my head that is calling me to share these thoughts with you, I pray that it will inspire you to become the best version of yourself so that you can start living the life your soul is longing for. If you like what you hear, please leave a comment on iTunes and share this message with your friends.*
I find it interesting that that show that I recorded nearly two years ago now talked about how we were in such a busy, crazy world and we needed to slow down and get our priorities back in order again in our life.
I was talking about how we need to get back into the Bible for answers and surrender to God that we don’t need all of the answers and that we can trust Him. I wonder if this time isn’t an opportunity for us to just really step back and take that evaluation of our life. In fact, I just wonder if it isn’t time for us all to take a look around our own personal jail cell if you will, and see if it isn’t time to step out before that door clicks shut and it’s too late. Thank you so much for listening today. I hope that this has inspired you to really take a good look at your life and see if there are places where you might need to make changes and really get back into the things that are important in life, your family, your relationship with Jesus, the Bible, and even though we can’t physically get into a church right now, we can start listening online. The opportunities are immense at this time. In fact, to shop around and find the church that works for you.
I know that it’s not easy to step back and focus primarily on God. It’s been a journey for me. Honestly. It’s been quite a journey, but I know that it’s worth it. I can assure you that it’s so, so worth it to take that different perspective on life and, and be in full relationship with Christ and the people He brings into our lives. If you need support with that, I would love to help you reach out to me. You know, send me a message through messenger. If we’re connected on Facebook, send me an email at Vona@vonajohnson.com or whatever works for you. I’d love to help you at this time if I can. In the meantime, I want to, again, thank you for stopping by and I hope that you will go, be blessed, and live your more.
Corresponds with Episode 97 of Longing for More.
