Soul Care: Ten Symptoms To Keep An Eye Out For

“Why, my soul, are you so dejected?  Why are you in such turmoil."
                                    – Psalms 42:5

It’s been a full season of ministry, of working on good, kingdom projects and investing in people that God brings across my path. In every way, ministry has been rewarding, purposeful and mostly, a lot of fun. I really do love the work of the ministry I’m a part of.

And yet.

What started as a tiredness which I attributed to my week-long battle through on and off fever and a hacking cough - it’s been going around - has now settled into a low grade feeling of blah. It’s not depression. It’s not despair and I wrestle to even know how to explain it but it's there. And as I actually sit with it and think back, it's been there for a while, weeks perhaps. 

It is unfortunately a familiar feeling, something that visits once, sometimes twice a year and which usually, as Douglas Rumford observes, follows a season where I find myself “unable to keep all the fires that we’ve started fueled.” I took on too much. One project in particular has turned into a bit of a roller coaster of on again off again waiting with a lot riding on my shoulders. 

At this point it’s just a season of the blahs, of fighting to stay motivated and occasionally feeling tired throughout the day. I’m thankful that I’ve had good mentors and friends that have taught me to see the symptoms and through the years I have learned to respond proactively and early. It is easy to see however that, left untended, this sort of season could easily descend into full scale burnout. We read about it in others more than we’d like and wonder why it happens so often to pastors and leaders and regular people alike.

One thing that I often find helpful is to pick up a book on the topic of soul care - that’s what it is after all - and so yesterday I began Douglas Rumford’s Soul Shaping.  I’m just one chapter in but found this first chapter, “Recognizing the Symptoms of Soul Neglect” an excellent resource for anyone wondering if they are wandering into the beginnings of the blahs or the blues or the dark night of the soul. His list of ten symptoms is a useful rubric to hold yourself up to if you’re not quite sure. The list is a simple tool which will help you reflect on the state of your soul. 

I won’t explain each here, most are pretty easy to understand, but I’d encourage you to prioritize setting aside regular time to reflect on your life and thoughts and how your soul is doing. In our hurried, harried lives of the 21st century few prioritize anything other than keeping busy doing productive things. This of course flies in the face of John 15 and the abiding life that Jesus calls us to but it seems the siren song we cannot restrain ourselves from following. 

Here are Rumford’s list of ten soul symptoms:

1. Low Grade “Depression Fever”
2. Busy But Bored
3. Loss Of Control Over Life’s Routine
4. Loss Of Responsiveness To Others
5. Withdrawal From Responsibility And Leadership
6. Preoccupation With Projects Of Lesser Importance
7. Restlessness And Dissatisfaction
8. Resurgence Of Unhealthy Habits, Diminished Impulse Control And Diminished Resistance To Temptation
9. Guilt And Shame
10. A Hard Heart

It should be noted that everyone will find themselves in seasons like this from time to time. There are things we can do to guard against it but we do live in a broken world. We started the article with a Psalm of David, a man after God’s heart and he sounds like he’s in a pretty dark place. The Apostle Paul once wrote that he “despaired of life itself” (1 Corinthians 1:8). Charles Spugeon, in a talk to ministerial students, once said, “Fits of depression come over the most of us. Usually cheerful as we may be, we must at intervals be cast down. The strong are not always vigorous, the wise not always ready, the brave not always courageous, and the joyous not always happy.”

If you reflect on the list above and find you check off more of the symptoms than you’d like to admit, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ve somehow been disobedient to God or failed. It does mean that you probably need to take steps to return to a place of greater soul health though.

Near the end of the chapter, Rumford says, “Paying attention to our hearts is the first step to valuing ourselves – as God values us – and to setting us free to value and love others – as God through Christ values and loves  them.”

Set aside some time this week - a good half day or so - to sit with the Lord and reflect on the state of your soul. 

Other Helpful Books

• Embracing Soul Care by Stephen W. Smith
• Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Pete Scazzero
• Leading on Empty by Wayne Cordiero
• Do you have a book you've found helpful for this topic? Share it in the comments.

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