I LOVE listening to music, sermons, podcasts, and audiobooks. I listen while I workout, walk to work, or while taking out the trash. But I HATE that moment when I pull out my headphones only to find them in a jumbled up mess. All my excitement about digging in to the next chapter of whatever Young Adult Fiction book I’m listening to is put on hold…while I summon my inner Boy Scout to untangle the knotted chaos of my headphones.
I bet it’s happened to you too.
Now, before you send me all kinds of emails or links on how to properly store my headphones…I want you to live in that metaphor for a moment.
You know that frustrating feeling.
You’ve had your patience tried by the elusive Headphone Gremlin that sneaks in during the middle of the night to make a mess of your headphones. You know how it feels to not being able to take that call or listen to whatever it is that you want to listen to…because the cord has gotten all tangled.
The cord is your soul.
It is how you listen to God. It is the space that you experience the gracious presence of the Jesus. It is how you live in constant communion with Him.
And for many of us…it’s a tangled up mess.
And so we go about our days and our lives missing out on hearing from and being connected to God, all because we’ve somehow let our soul get tangled up in all sorts of other things.
Our souls gets tangled up in fear and worry about the future.
Our souls get tangled up in work and the pressures of the day.
Our souls get tangled up in sin and all kinds of temptations that wreak havoc on our lives.
Our souls get tangled up watching other people’s lives online.
Our souls get tangled up in meaningless distractions that keep us numbed up and tuned out of God’s activity in our lives.
Your soul may very well be all tangled up right now.
But it doesn’t have to be this way!
It is possible for you to live “Untangled”. Allowing your soul to be fully and freely present to the loving presence of God in your everyday life.
In fact, here are a couple of things that you can do TODAY to help untangle your soul and live more connected to God.
Thoughts For Detangling Your Soul
- SETTLE INTO SILENCE
Take 5 minutes right now to sit and be still. No distractions.
Pay attention to every thought or fear or worry that tries to steal away your presence.
Name each one of them to God. Trust that He can handle them and knows what to do with them.
Give yourself the gift and being still and trusting that God is with you and He is in control. - PRACTICE BREATH PRAYER
This is one of the main things I do to detangle my soul.
Breath Prayers are an ancient practice where you settle on a simple prayer that you pray as you inhale…and as you exhale.
My breath prayer right now is:
Inhale: “You are here.”
Exhale: “I am loved.”
Some others are:
Inhale: “Here I am.”
Exhale: “Your servant is listening.”
or
Inhale: “I believe.”
Exhale: “Help my unbelief.” - GO FOR A WALK OUTSIDE
I know…so simple, right?
But you would be amazed at how connected your body is to your soul. Actively choosing to walk with God does wonders for all the stress and fear and tangled nature of your soul.
Allow yourself to walk slowly. It’s not a race. It’s a way of actively resting in the unending and all-encompassing presence of God.
While you’re walking, feel free to talk with God…or listen to God…or just be silent.
A 10 Minute walk with God has an amazing way of detangling your soul. - GO ONE NIGHT WITHOUT ANY TECHNOLOGY
This one is a tough one for me, but I am always amazed in the morning at how rested and present my soul feels with God.
Try and see if you can go ONE NIGHT without your Laptop, or Phone, or Facebook, or Instagram, or Television.
It may seem impossible at first (at least it does to me), but you can actually do this!
And you will be amazed at how the cords of your soul will gently and slowly begin to fall back into place, allowing you to be present with and listen to God.
If I am at all serious about Jesus’ invitation to “Love the Lord my God with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my strength, and with all my mind”…than I want to do whatever I can do to detangle my jumbled up soul. I want to love God for all of who He is, from all of who I am.
And my hunch is…that you want the same.
So what are you willing to do today to Detangle the thing that matters most in this world…your soul?
Again, these are just a few thoughts. I bet you have more!
If so, I’d love for you to share what YOU do to Detangle Your Soul!
You can leave your thoughts in the comments below!