Restored to Its Original State
“Ron, it’s just gone. I can’t find it anywhere.” In the capacity of my IT responsibilities through the years, this is a phrase that invokes panic like little else can. Somehow, inadvertently, someone has made a mistake (even though they rarely admit it), and very important documents, files, or even folders of information have simply vanished, nowhere to be found.
Mistakes like this can create major problems within an organization as well as for individuals. This sort of loss will inevitably result in complications to recall and recreate information, considerable time investment is used for the individual and potentially others, and there is the possibility the information may not be easily rebuilt or recalled. The stress this creates is significant and often overwhelming.
But our “psyche” as described in Psalm 23:3 translated as soul, occasionally take these kinds of hits. We feel fine when everything is “as and where” it should be. But when something is missing or taken away, this instability can create chaos, stress, and run us down.
A mistake we made, an argument we had, a relationship that isn’t going as well as it has been, these all leave an emptiness in the hard drive of our psyche and causes an instability making us feel unrest, anxiety, stress and maybe depression. You know what I’m talking about, because you have been there. I know you have, because I have been there too! In fact, I’m kind of there right now. Which is why I’ve taken a few days off… so my soul (psyche) can get restored.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul… Psalm 23:1-3 KJV
While others who work at the offices that I have managed or overseen in the IT departments may panic at the loss of or missing files, I rarely have any fear whatsoever. Because I know that the engineer who has put together the network knows exactly what he is doing, he created it with just such a situation in mind. He has put into place a system that will restore exactly what has gone missing, right back where it belongs, in due time. He takes great pleasure in making things right again. The only thing he doesn’t do is restore what hasn’t been confessed. All he needs is a confession, an admission, perhaps even some repentance, and then the creator of the network back up can restore things back to new!
Are we still talking about lost files and an IT administrator or has this already transitioned to the point of Psalm 23:3a? Psalm 23 seems to lay out the job description of a Shepherd and the psalmist continues to lay out what the Lord as my Shepherd, and the Lord as your Shepherd has to offer.
Maybe you find your psyche: your soul, your mind, your heart and or your body depleted… missing what would be needed to make you feel complete, whole. If you find yourself there, maybe even at this moment, now would be a great time to let yourself be led to a green pasture and rest. At the moment, my still waters have waves from where I sit. But this is rest for me while I ask the Lord to restore my soul. Don’t put this off, ask the Lord to restore your soul, put back that which is missing so that you too can get back to the original state in which He has created you.
Dr. Ronald J. Barnes Jr.
President / CEO
10/19/2021
