A Refreshed Soul Needs Resilience

We're in the Soul Good Summer series — a series all about our soul. Pastor Mark teed us up well with part one, focusing on rest. Even though it's summertime, sometimes we have to learn how to rest.

Today we come to part two, and I believe the word the Lord has laid on my heart is one that can help us make a difference in any environment we're in — and help us overcome any circumstance or situation we may face.

Our theme scripture for this series comes from Psalm 23:3:

He refreshes my soul, and he guides me along the path of righteousness for his name's sake.

The Lord is a great shepherd, and he desires for your soul to be refreshed. But here's the challenge: we often go through scenarios, situations, and circumstances in life that allow our once-refreshed soul to be emptied, drained, or depleted.

So here's the question: How do we retain the refreshment that the Lord desires to give? The answer to that question is what our topic today is all about. The word is resilience.

Resilience in our souls keeps us moving forward when it feels like life keeps pulling us backwards. Resilience is having the faith that God's purpose will still prevail even through difficult circumstances.

The Picture of a Resilient Soul

The prophet Jeremiah tells us what a resilient soul looks like. In Jeremiah 17:7–8 we read:

But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.

If Psalm 23 is the promise that God refreshes our soul, then Jeremiah 17 is the picture of what a resilient soul looks like.

I came across a photo of a rose blooming up through concrete. The rose didn't get to determine where it would be planted, and it didn't know it would face conditions so challenging to overcome. But somehow, someway, through it all, it found a way to thrive, blossom, and flourish.

We can all relate to that rose. We often find ourselves in difficult situations we didn't plan for — challenging scenarios we didn't expect. Maybe it's an unexpected health diagnosis you can't stop thinking about. Maybe it's family issues pulling the family apart. Maybe it's pain from your past that keeps you from moving forward.

A plant has a hard time withstanding something as difficult as concrete, and people often struggle to have the resilience to deal with the difficult circumstances they're placed in. But the rose blooming through the concrete reveals that beauty can still arise from tough situations — and your soul can still prosper, thrive, and be refreshed wherever you're planted.

Joseph: Prospering Wherever He Was Planted

Joseph found himself in situations he didn't plan for and circumstances he didn't expect, yet his soul remained resilient and he prospered wherever he was planted.

In Genesis 39:1:

Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.

To give you a brief synopsis: Joseph's dad buys him a jacket the other brothers didn't receive. The brothers get jealous, plan to betray him, take his jacket, and give him to the Ishmaelite traders. He's thrown into a pit and later purchased by Potiphar. With family members like that — talking about family issues — who needs enemies?

Then in verses 2–4:

The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the Lord was with him and gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of all his household and entrusted to his care everything he owned.

Things seemed to be getting better. But then it took a turn for the worse. Potiphar's wife accuses Joseph of something he didn't do. In verse 20:

Joseph's master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined.

He was once in a pit; now he finds himself in prison. I don't know if anyone can relate — where once one thing gets better, something else falls apart. Growing up they used to say, "If it's not one thing, it's another."

The car breaks down; once it's fixed, the kids start acting up. Once you get the kids in line, a parent gets sick. Once they get better, the marriage falls apart. Once you improve the marriage, the job starts laying off in your area. If you've lived life long enough, you know — if it's not one thing, it's another.

But watch what happens in verses 21–23:

The Lord was with him, showed him kindness, and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison... because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.

In prison, Joseph succeeds again. Eventually he interprets the cupbearer's dream, then Pharaoh's dreams, and Pharaoh is so impressed he releases Joseph and appoints him prime minister over all the land.

Wherever Joseph went, he prospered. In the pit, he prospered. In the prison, he prospered. In the palace, he prospered.

The Big Idea

Joseph's story demonstrates that just because we're God's elect does not mean we're exempt. We're not exempt from difficult circumstances or challenging situations we didn't plan for.

Joseph did everything right and still found himself in prison. But what appeared to be a setback was actually a setup that led him to his purpose. The prison looked like an interruption in his life, but it was actually an introduction to God's plans and purpose. The prison wasn't blocking him from his destiny — it was building a bridge to it.

God can use your problem. He can use it.

Four Marks of a Resilient Soul

My wife's grandmother — we called her Nana — once taught me how to garden. As she brought rose bushes to our yard, she taught me lessons that tie right into Jeremiah's scripture, the rose blooming through concrete, and Joseph's story.

1. A Resilient Soul Gets Watered

When Nana wanted to place the rose bushes over a spot with rocks and dirt, I told her it wouldn't grow there. Just as plants need to be watered, so do our souls.

Jeremiah says a resilient soul is "like a tree planted by the water." Just because your environment is dry doesn't mean your soul has to be. We can be watered through meaningful relationships that build resilience in our souls.

Some of us have a lot of people we're pouring out to — but do you have anybody pouring into you? Even the rose received rain through the cracks in the concrete. God's watering system for your soul is healthy community.

That's why I love that we have small groups in the summer. It's not just something on your calendar — it's to water you.

So ask yourself: In what ways this summer are you planning to be watered by meaningful relationships? Is it a small group? A spiritual mentor? If you can't answer who's pouring into you, ask God to reveal someone. Make a phone call and say, "I just need someone pouring into me."

As strong, as holy, as smart as you are — you still need to be watered. Don't try to outlast a hard season alone.

2. A Resilient Soul Grows Deep Roots

After Nana watered the soil, she was preparing it to grow deep roots. Even with a good watering system, if a plant's roots are shallow, it topples over anytime a storm comes. Storms have a way of revealing the depth of your roots.

The same is true with us. Sometimes all it takes is one storm and we lose our hope or our faith — a revelation that our roots need to go deeper.

We need deep roots in our faith for our souls to withstand the storms of life. One of the ways that happens is through reading God's word. (If you missed Pastor Mark's message on how to read your Bible in the Let's Talk About It series, go back and watch it — it teaches the practical way of using your Bible to grow your roots deeper.)

Deep roots produce a soul that holds its shape under pressure. When you don't have deep roots, the problems you face always seem bigger than the God you serve.

Some believe the greatest miracle wasn't that Joseph made it out of prison, but that he didn't let the prison get inside of him. His heart stayed tender even though his circumstances were hard.

Just because it's around you doesn't mean you have to let it get in you.

Whether he was in the pit, the prison, or the palace, his character stayed the same — not because of where he was planted, but because of where his faith was rooted. When you have deep roots, you're not shaken by what you see in your circumstance, because you're settled by what God says in his word.

My daughters taught me a word that's trending: when something is final and settled, they say "period." "The dress is a vibe. Period." "I ate that up, left no crumbs. Period."

I want to encourage you today: I don't care what your circumstance is showing you. What's already settled about you is what God's word says. Period.

• Your past may say one thing, but God's word says he's chosen you and not rejected you.
• He has plans to prosper you and not to harm you — plans to give you a hope and a future. Period.
• If you're in a correctional facility, God's word says you're his masterpiece, created to do good works, a child of the Most High King, and greatly loved. Period.
• If you feel defeated by your environment, God's word says you're more than a conqueror, the head and not the tail, above and not beneath. And with God, all things are possible. Period.

We need to stop putting commas in our circumstances where God has already placed a period. If he said it, that settles it. We'll prosper wherever we're planted.

3. A Resilient Soul Produces Fruit in Its Environment

A plant needs water and deep roots, but it also needs fruitful soil. Nana went to the area of rocks and dirt, opened a bag of topsoil, and poured it over. She said, "The topsoil is filled with fruitful nutrients that'll take an environment that was once dry and make it a healthy space where things can grow."

That's when I realized: if you change the soil, you can change an environment.

Soil doesn't exist for itself to thrive — it exists to help everything around it grow. The same is true of fruit: fruit isn't produced for its own benefit, but for the benefit of others.

You can change the condition of the soil you're planted in by the fruit you're willing to produce in it. Produce the fruit of the Spirit into the soil of every challenging environment:

• If your environment is harsh, add gentleness to the soil.
• If your environment is unreliable, add faithfulness to the soil.
• If your environment is discouraging, add joy to the soil.
• If your environment is hateful, add love to the soil.

Regardless of the condition of your environment, the resilience of your soul is revealed by the fruit you're still willing to produce in it.

I'm afraid some of us are walking away from environments God has called us to change, only because we didn't realize we simply needed to add a little fruit to the soil. Walking away from jobs, marriages, and healthy community when all it needed was better soil. Often it's not the location that's the problem — it's the soil we're surrounded in.

What I love about Joseph is that he produced fruit in every place he was planted. He never waited for things to improve before contributing — he became the contribution. Be the change you want to see in your place.

A soul that keeps giving in a difficult place stays alive in ways that a closed-off soul never does. Resilience grows strongest not by what we receive, but by what we're willing to release. Every time we produce love, joy, peace, and patience into our environment, our own soul becomes more resilient.

That's why opportunities like Summer Blast, Serve Day, and Motion Conference are so good for your soul. When you serve, you walk out feeling different. When you see 17,000 students calling on the name of Jesus, it builds something in you: I can endure a little bit more. God is going to carry me through this.

So ask yourself: What's one way this week you can add value by being fruitful in the environment God has placed you? Maybe it's your home, your marriage, your job. Say, "I'm going to produce fruit in it anyway."

God has already placed inside of you everything you need to produce fruit into the soil of the environment surrounding you. It's in you already.

4. A Resilient Soul Stays Under the Sun

Even a rose with good water, deep roots, and fruitful soil still needs sunlight. That rose never would have made it through the concrete if the sun didn't shine on it.

The same is true for us. Just as every plant needs sunlight, every believer spiritually needs the Son — Jesus Christ — in your life to have the resilience to prosper anywhere you're planted.

The first thing Jeremiah says about a resilient soul is, "blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him." Joseph put all his trust in the Lord. The only way Joseph made it out was because of the God he was under. He made it over because of the Lord he was under.

When you stay under the Son, everything has purpose and nothing is wasted.

Nana taught me something else. She said even cow manure, when placed under the sunlight, turns into fertilizer for the plants to grow. I thought, how could something so bad that most people avoid turn into something so good?

Then I thought about Joseph. Every time he had a moment of adversity, because he was under the Son, the Lord used it for his advancement. Notice the pattern:

1. In Genesis 37, his brothers took his coat and threw him into a pit — but because he was under the Son, the Lord used it as a promotion to become Potiphar's chief attendant.
2. In Genesis 39, Potiphar's wife took his garment and he was thrown into prison — but because he stayed under the Son, the Lord used it as a promotion to become prime minister over all Egypt.

Every time Joseph lost a coat, it was preparing him for a crown he was about to receive. Your problem is preparation for promotion.

Standing under the Son strengthens the resilience we need to know that the difficult moments of our lives will ultimately serve a greater purpose. Joseph said it to his brothers in Genesis 50:20:

You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so that I could save the lives of many people.

Here's my translation of what Joseph probably said: "You tried to throw manure on me, but God turned it into fertilizer for me. What you thought would break me actually blessed me. What you thought would punish me actually prospered me."

When Jesus is with you, there's no circumstance on earth you can't prosper through. If problems are around you, you'll prosper. If the odds are stacked against you, you'll prosper. If storms hit you, you'll prosper. If you're in a correctional facility, you can still prosper — because when God is with you, his favor is for you. His word says you'll be blessed going in and blessed coming out; blessed in the city and blessed in the field. Eyes haven't seen, ears haven't heard what the Lord has in store for those whose souls are resilient.

This summer, we're going to prosper where we're planted. Period.

An Invitation to Come Under the Son

Maybe you're here today discouraged by the situation you're facing. Maybe you've wanted your life to change and, no matter how hard you try, you feel stuck under the concrete.

Let me ask you: Have you ever tried completely putting yourself under the Son — Jesus Christ? Have you ever truly given him your whole heart? Because when you do, the rose inside of you will blossom and grow through the concrete surrounding you.

If Joseph were here, he'd tell you: with Jesus Christ as your Savior, you can prosper wherever you're planted.

With every head bowed and every eye closed — if you're here today and you're willing to open your heart and let Jesus come in, I want to give you the opportunity to receive the greatest difference your life will ever encounter: a man named Jesus Christ.

If you're willing to say yes to Jesus, just lift your hand so we can be praying for you.

Now you can pray with me. Speak from your heart — he's listening:

Jesus, I need you. Thank you, Lord, for being with me through it all. I thought I was alone, but now I realize you've been carrying me the whole time. So God, today I open my heart to you. Today I say yes to you. I ask you, Lord, to be my Lord and my Savior. I believe that you are the Son of God. I believe you died on the cross so that my sins may be forgiven, and I believe you still live. So I now ask, would you come and live inside of me? Use my life for your glory. Starting today, I am forever yours.

Lord, allow your word that went forth today to rest in our hearts. Give us the resilience we need in our souls to make a difference wherever we are. Help us to be watered with meaningful relationships. Help our roots go deeper so that when the storms come, we remain resilient in our faith. Allow us to bear good fruit in every environment — may we live open-handed and keep tender hearts. And lastly, allow us to remain under the Son, that even in this summer season we would be forever connected to you. We love you, Jesus, and we thank you for all you've done here today. In Jesus' mighty name we pray, Amen.