{"id":11815,"date":"2018-02-13T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-02-13T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/reasons.org\/the-ache-of-the-soul\/"},"modified":"2018-02-13T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-02-13T11:00:00","slug":"the-ache-of-the-soul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reasons.org\/christianity\/beliefs-values\/the-ache-of-the-soul","title":{"rendered":"The Ache of the Soul"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"post-norm\">\n<div class=\"container\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col-sm-8 col-sm-offset-2\">\n<!-- CONTENT BEGINS --><\/p>\n<p>A common Christian description of the human condition is that people as sinners are alienated, lost, and cut off from God. Being out of sync with their Creator and themselves, people are unable to find truly enduring fulfillment and satisfaction in life. And yet, the human longing and desire for meaning, purpose, and significance continues to churn in the human heart. Thus, happiness or true self-fulfillment is fleeting in life.<\/p>\n<p>Christian authors like St. Augustine, Blaise Pascal, S\u00f8ren<span> <\/span>Kierkegaard, and C. S. Lewis describe what might be called <span>\u201c<\/span>soul-sorrow<span>\u201d<\/span>\u2014being weary and burdened by life and one\u2019s existential brokenness and separation from God. Here\u2019s Augustine\u2019s famous quote from his work <em>Confessions<\/em>, where he says to God in prayer, \u201cYou made us for yourself and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you.\u201d<sup>1<\/sup> Interestingly, when I read St. Augustine\u2019s <em>Confessions<\/em>, I often feel like I\u2019m reading the words of an empathetic friend.<\/p>\n<p>The rest and peace for the human soul that Augustine references comes only through finding forgiveness and reconciliation with God through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Human beings were made specifically for an intimate relationship with God, and thus nothing else will satisfy true human longing and desire.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Christians and the Ache of the Soul<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Even Christians who have been the recipient of God\u2019s amazing, saving grace in Jesus Christ still long to see God face-to-face. They long to intimately love the Triune God and enjoy him (or them) forever. There are many existentially sensitive Christian souls who sense deeply in this life their yearning for that ultimate and climactic divine encounter with the Lord. Christian counselor Larry Crabb thinks all Christians continue to experience soul ache even after their conversion to Christ:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Yet there is no escape from an aching soul, only denial of it. The promise of one day being with Jesus in a perfect world is the Christian\u2019s only hope for complete relief. Until then, we either groan or pretend we don\u2019t.<sup>2<\/sup><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Recently, my wife and I attended a concert of the popular musical artist Steve Winwood. Winwood was a rock star in the 1960s and <span>\u2019<\/span>70s, but he in part credits reading C. S. Lewis\u2019s writings with his embracing of Christianity in the 1980s. During the concert, Winwood played one of his classic blues songs entitled <span>\u201cCan\u2019t Find My Way Home.\u201d The song\u2019s refrain is as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>I can\u2019t find my way home.<br \/>\nBut I can\u2019t find my way home. . . .<br \/>\nStill I can\u2019t find my way home.<sup>3<\/sup><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>As I listened to Winwood sing these lyrics in his appealing soulish-blues style, I thought that this described well my common experience in life. Though I have been blessed with good fortune in life\u2014especially in terms of faith, family, and friends\u2014I still have a spiritual ache to encounter the Triune God face-to-face, and that ache often feels like I can\u2019t find my way home.<\/p>\n<p>One of my very favorite passages from the Gospels is when the Great Physician-Counsellor-Philosopher, and more importantly, Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ offers words of enduring hope for those who suffer from soul-sorrow and the ache of the soul:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.<\/p>\n<p>\u2013Matthew 11:28\u201330<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>I\u2019ve encountered God\u2019s amazing, saving grace in Jesus Christ, but I still long for that ultimate rest and peace of the soul. While I am blessed as a forgiven sinner in the here and now, I still existentially yearn for that fuller intimacy with the Lord. Sometimes my soul actually groans to find my way home to God.<\/p>\n<p>King David understood my situation:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.<\/p>\n<p>\u2013Psalm 63:1<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Reflections: Your Turn<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Have you experienced the ache of the soul? If so, how would you describe it? Visit <a href=\"https:\/\/reflectionsbyken.wordpress.com\/\"><em>Reflections <\/em>on WordPress<\/a> to comment with your response.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Resources<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For more on the topic of humankind\u2019s longing for God, see \u201cThe Historic Christian View of Man,\u201d chap. 10 in <a href=\"https:\/\/support.reasons.org\/purchase\/a-world-of-difference\"><em>A World of Difference: Putting Christian Truth-Claims to the Worldview Test<\/em><\/a> (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2007).<\/p>\n<div class=\"footnotes\">\n<h5>Endnotes<\/h5>\n<ol>\n<li>Saint Augustine, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Confessions-Penguin-Classics-Saint-Augustine\/dp\/014044114X\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1517954741&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=st+augustine+confessions+pine+coffin\"><em>Confessions<\/em><\/a>, trans. R. S. Pine-Coffin (New York: Penguin Books, 1961), Book 1, 1.<\/li>\n<li>Larry Crabb,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Inside-Out-Larry-Crabb\/dp\/1612913121\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1517956496&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=larry+crabb+inside+out\"><em> Inside Out<\/em><\/a> (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2013), 29.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cCan\u2019t Find My Way Home,\u201d written by Steve Winwood, recorded 1969, track 2 on <em>Blind Faith<\/em>, Polydor, 33\u2153 rpm.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- CONTENT ENDS -->\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Explore the deep longing for meaning and fulfillment in life amidst spiritual ache and separation from God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":581,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_person_authors":[],"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":"","_classifai_error":"","_classifai_text_to_speech_error":"","_classifai_text_to_speech_scheduled":false},"categories":[63975,64014],"tags":[66908,66920,66893],"discipline":[],"reading-level":[64149],"class_list":["post-11815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-beliefs-values","category-meaning-life","tag-philosophy","tag-the-fall","tag-gospel","reading-level-advanced-deep-dive"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v28.0) - 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Christianity isn\u2019t just about what we believe\u2014it\u2019s about how we live. From core beliefs like the Trinity and salvation to values like love and forgiveness, our lives should reflect God\u2019s truth and grace. But how do we put this into practice?\r\n\r\nWith so many interpretations of Scripture\u2014and our own human nature working against us\u2014discerning the right way to follow Jesus can feel challenging. Let\u2019s turn to the Bible to explore how Christian beliefs and values can become genuine expressions of a deep faith that glorifies God.\r\n\r\n\u00a0","parent":63972,"count":377,"filter":"raw","term_order":"0","cat_ID":63975,"category_count":377,"category_description":"What does it mean to follow Christ? Christianity isn\u2019t just about what we believe\u2014it\u2019s about how we live. From core beliefs like the Trinity and salvation to values like love and forgiveness, our lives should reflect God\u2019s truth and grace. But how do we put this into practice?\r\n\r\nWith so many interpretations of Scripture\u2014and our own human nature working against us\u2014discerning the right way to follow Jesus can feel challenging. Let\u2019s turn to the Bible to explore how Christian beliefs and values can become genuine expressions of a deep faith that glorifies God.\r\n\r\n\u00a0","cat_name":"Beliefs and Values","category_nicename":"beliefs-values","category_parent":63972},{"term_id":64014,"name":"Meaning of Life","slug":"meaning-life","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":64014,"taxonomy":"category","description":"Why are we here? Every person longs for meaning, yet it seems elusive. Some people chase success, relationships, or personal passions. Others turn to science, philosophy, or religion. But can purpose be something we create, or is it something greater than ourselves?\r\n\r\nWhen life is easy, the question may feel distant\u2014but in hardship, it demands an answer. Is there meaning even in suffering? If so, where does it come from? The search for purpose ultimately leads us back to our Creator. His design shapes not just what we do, but who we are becoming. Explore how God\u2019s plan gives life meaning that extends beyond the present moment.","parent":64009,"count":48,"filter":"raw","term_order":"0","cat_ID":64014,"category_count":48,"category_description":"Why are we here? Every person longs for meaning, yet it seems elusive. Some people chase success, relationships, or personal passions. Others turn to science, philosophy, or religion. But can purpose be something we create, or is it something greater than ourselves?\r\n\r\nWhen life is easy, the question may feel distant\u2014but in hardship, it demands an answer. Is there meaning even in suffering? If so, where does it come from? The search for purpose ultimately leads us back to our Creator. His design shapes not just what we do, but who we are becoming. Explore how God\u2019s plan gives life meaning that extends beyond the present moment.","cat_name":"Meaning of Life","category_nicename":"meaning-life","category_parent":64009}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":66908,"name":"Philosophy","slug":"philosophy","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":66908,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":22,"filter":"raw","term_order":"0"},{"term_id":66920,"name":"The Fall","slug":"the-fall","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":66920,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":19,"filter":"raw","term_order":"0"},{"term_id":66893,"name":"Gospel","slug":"gospel","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":66893,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":20,"filter":"raw","term_order":"0"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reasons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reasons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reasons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reasons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/581"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reasons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reasons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11815\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reasons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reasons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reasons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11815"},{"taxonomy":"discipline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reasons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/discipline?post=11815"},{"taxonomy":"reading-level","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reasons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reading-level?post=11815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}