God Doesn’t Do Makeovers

Mark spoke this morning from Psalm 23:3 (‘He restores my soul’) and commented that God doesn’t do makeovers… He is interested in soul restoration instead. Makeovers tend to focus on the external, looking at beauty treatments, photoshoots, fashion tips and, more controversially, cosmetic surgery. Makeovers inevitably focus on the outward appearance, but God is interested on transformation from the inside out.

God’s restoration of our soul looks at 4 key areas:

1. Spirit. In Ps 51:10, David asked God to create in him a clean heart and restore a right spirit within him. God always starts with the spirit, changing us by putting His Holy Spirit within us. What we need more than any external makeover is God to change us from within, to renew us from the centre of our beings.
2. Outlook. When God restores our soul, we begin to see things from God’s point of view. Heb 2:8-9 reminds us that even though everything may not look as though it is going well for us now, Jesus is still in control. He is the shepherd of our lives. We begin to see life from God’s perspective and that enables us to see Jesus as ultimately victorious.
3. Understanding. There are so many things we don’t understand, but Job 32:7-9 reminds us that the breath of the Almighty gives understanding. He is able to put within us that ‘rescue breath’ taught in first aid courses, where He breathes understanding into us. 2 Tim 2:7 tells us that God can give us understanding and insight – not only into God’s Word, but how to apply that word to our circumstances. On the road to Emmaus, Jesus opened the understanding of the two disciples (Luke 24:45) so that they could understand Scripture and how it applied to their present situation. God can do the same for us.
4. Life. John 10:10 reminds us that Jesus came to bring abundant life to us – not just everlasting life, but a life that is profuse, more than enough, overflowing.

God knows us through and through (see Ps 139:14-16) and because of this is uniquely qualified to restore our souls. Remember the acrostic and allow God to restore today all that has been lost and tarnished through sin and guilt.

Spirit

Outlook

Understanding

Life