God Sees Your Soul

Scripture Reference:

Psalms 42:11

“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God…”

“Girl, get it together.”
“You can do this.”
“Why are you tripping?”
“It’s not even that serious.”
“You’re really in your feelings.”
“Just calm down.”
“Get over it.”
“Get yourself together.”

Those are the words we sometimes cast at ourselves.

And when I say cast, I mean exactly that. We throw those words onto our own souls like accusations. We tell our souls they are doing something inappropriate - feeling too much, grieving too deeply, reacting too emotionally. We treat emotion as weakness instead of recognizing it as part of how God created us.

But that is not the design of the soul.

God created us as a triune being: spirit, soul, and body. And the soul houses our emotions, our thoughts, our feelings, our inner experiences. So why do we consistently tell our souls to be quiet?

As described in this powerful YouTube short on Sozo. Sozo is a Greek word frequently used in the New Testament (appearing over 100 times) that goes beyond the common translation of "saved" to mean healed, delivered, and made whole.

Jesus did not silence His soul in the Garden of Gethsemane.

When He cried out to the Father, He did not pretend to be unaffected by what was ahead. He asked if the cup - the suffering He knew was coming - could pass from Him. He knew He would go to the cross. He knew Calvary was inevitable. Yet He still brought His pain and anguish before God.

The Bible tells us His suffering was so intense that He sweat drops like blood. That is not just spiritual symbolism…medically, extreme emotional distress can cause the body to respond in unimaginable ways.

Jesus felt it deeply.
And He took those feelings to the One who could hold them.

Often, we know we have to face hard things too.

We have to make the phone call.
We have to deal with family tension.
We have to have the difficult conversation with a manager.
We have to return to places that trigger painful memories.
We have to walk through grief, disappointment, fear, exhaustion, and uncertainty.

And those emotions are okay.

They are part of your humanity.
Part of your makeup.
Part of your soul.

So instead of constantly telling yourself to toughen up, push through, or “be strong,” what if you followed the example of Jesus instead?

What if you cried before the Lord and said:

“God, if this cup can pass, please allow it to. But if it cannot, I trust Your will and Your way.”

One thing we cannot do is pretend the pain is not there.

God cannot heal what we refuse to uncover.
Not because He doesn’t already know. Of course He knows.
He knows you’re grieving.
He knows you’re overwhelmed.
He knows your heart is tired.

But there is something powerful about bringing it to Him ourselves.

Not to inform Him - but to align our faith with His power.
To help us become honest about what hurts and aware of what God wants to heal within us.

Jesus is our example.

He came not only for our salvation, but also to leave us a model for how to live. And Jesus did not run from emotion.

When Lazarus died, Jesus wept - even though He already knew He was about to raise him from the dead.

Why would He cry if He knew the miracle was coming?

Because grief still mattered.

And in Gethsemane, why would He ask for the cup to pass if He already knew the cross was inevitable?

Because sorrow still mattered.

There are situations in life we know we cannot change in our human strength. Yet we also know God will meet us there.

So today, show up for yourself.

If there’s a place in your heart that hurts, tell God.
If there’s grief, bring it to Him.
If there’s fear, exhaustion, depression, anxiety, sadness, or anger, expose it before the Father.

Do not silence your soul.

Follow the example of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ - who showed us that vulnerability before God is not weakness, but trust.

Prayer:

Father, God.

Thank you for caring about every part of me, even the emotions I often try to hide.

Teach me to stop silencing my soul and to bring my honest feelings before You.

Help me trust You with the places that hurt, the situations I cannot control, and the burdens I carry quietly.

Thank You for giving us Jesus as an example of vulnerability, surrender, and trust.

Thank you for caring for my soul.

In Jesus Name,
Amen.