God's Plan For Your WellbeingVoorbeeld

Spiritual wellbeing

Have you ever gone on a much-needed break or holiday, only to come back feeling just as tired – anything but rested and refreshed? One of the reasons is that although vacations can be good and even essential for our physical and emotional replenishment, they don’t necessarily satisfy something even deeper, which is our need for spiritual rest and wellbeing. 

The importance of our spiritual relationship with God is emphasised throughout the Bible. For example, in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, the apostle Paul talks about God’s plan for us to be whole and holy in every area of our lives, and sets this out in the following order: ‘spirit, soul and body’. Notice how he mentions our spirit first, then our soul (mind, will and emotions), then our body. It is clear that our spiritual wellbeing is of critical and central importance to every other area of our lives. 

For much of my childhood and adolescence, even though I had a loving family and lots going for me, I was increasingly aware – especially during my teens – that something was fundamentally missing from my life. I had what some describe as ‘a God-shaped hole’, which included a sense of inner restlessness. But then, at the age of 19, I finally decided to pray and ask Jesus to come into my life. Not only did I experience a tremendous sense of being forgiven and made new on the inside, but I was filled with God’s presence, satisfying me in the depths of my being in a way that I had never known before. For the first time in my whole life, I felt deeply at rest and truly refreshed. The even better news is that this experience continues to this day! 

This is not something unique to me but is something that is available to all who accept what Jesus is offering them. While our individual experiences may vary, the promise of the Bible is that all who believe in and receive Jesus are born again, made spiritually new and alive through His resurrection power. We are given the gift of His Holy Spirit, who fills us with the love and presence of God Himself. It’s only then that our spiritual thirst truly begins to be satisfied, as ‘a spring of water welling up to eternal life’ (John 4:14). 

However, once we are born again and have this well within us, we still need to ‘drink’ regularly. We need to keep coming to Christ, spending time with Him and allowing the presence of the Holy Spirit to fill and refill us.