” . . . obsessions occupy space in your soul that belongs to God. If these preoccupations squeeze God out, you’ll carry an emptiness inside that’ll never go away. . . . When everything else but God saturates my soul, it gets sick because it’s starving for God’s love.”- Bob Merritt
“With my whole being, body and soul, I will shout joyfully to the living God.”- Psalm 84:2 (NLT)
In Chapter 12 (“Less Obsession, More Devotion”), the final chapter of Done With That, Bob Merritt observes that all people have healthy and positive passions in life. But, they become obsessions when they dominate your thoughts. Consequently, you find it hard to stop thinking about them. As a result, you miss the new life of love, joy, and peace. Furthermore, the late Billy Graham once said: “The soul was made for God, and without God it is restless and in secret torment.”
Above all, Pastor Merritt notes, the Bible teaches the connection between our bodies and our souls. However, the author counsels, many of us forget to nurture our souls. Hence, we fail to feed or protect our souls. And sometimes our souls don’t even cross our minds. Instead, we choose to chase our obsessions. This creates a problem.
As Pastor Merritt cautions, it’s imperative that we acquire a degree of spiritual wholeness before the wave hits. Otherwise, the wave can completely overwhelm us. Writing in Moving Mountains, John Eldredge states:
“There is no zap that suddenly makes a person . . . whole. Wholeness is something we grow into as we walk with Jesus through the years of our lives.”
In other words, we cannot simply flip a switch and make it all better.
Today’s question: What obsessions occupy space in your soul that belongs to God? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Finding the new life of love, joy and peace”
