A Settled Soul: 5 Practices for the Unsettled Spirit

By Matthew D. Harder

Are you feeling unsettled?
You are not alone. Many people feel unsettled in their lives, but they don't know what to do about it. They try to fix the problem with things that only make them more unhappy and unfulfilled. This book will help you find peace by understanding how God designed us, so we can live a life of purpose and meaning!
If you want to stop settling for less than your best self, then this is the book for you! It will show you five practices that will move your spirit into a place of constant peace where anything is possible. These five practices have helped many others settle their soul so they could embrace who God made them to be instead of trying to become someone else. Now it's time for YOU too! 
Let A Settled Soul guide your journey from being unsettled in life…to living an extraordinary life full of joy and fulfillment today! 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Matthew D. Harder
• Release date: Oct 24, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201641047

Book preview

Dedication

I

dedicate this book to the one my soul loves, Kaylee. I’m blessed beyond measure to be united with you under Christ. You know my innermost parts, you know what’s best for us and our family, and you’ve always relentlessly defended God’s wonderful story in our lives.

For that, I am eternally grateful.

Preface

T

he question that will be essential to our journey together is this:

How does a settled soul find peace in a chaotic world? There are moments in our lives when nothing seems to be right and there doesn’t seem to be anything we can do about it. Those moments can leave us feeling stuck and unsettled in our souls.

Are we forced to be stuck within this chaotic cycle?

No! God desires nothing more than that we would live in His love. And His love grants us the freedom we can find nowhere else. We are not stuck where we are: we are not stuck in the chaos of our world. We have the power and freedom to break free into the glorious horizon that the Lord has prepared for each one of us.

In this book, A Settled Soul, you will discover 5 practices that will move your unsettled spirit into a place of constant peace. These five practices will help you embrace how God designed us; not because that is where we find our purpose, but because that is where we share our voice. These five practices will help you settle your soul, so you don’t settle in life.

Chapter  1

The Five Practices of a Settled Soul

What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?

-Jesus

H

ave you ever met someone with a settled soul? Perhaps they were an older man or woman but one that was young in spirit. If so, their childlike faith probably left an impression on you. For me, that person is Sam Jacobson. Sam lived a long life of 87 years. He was one of the youngest and most settled spirits I have ever known. Mr. Jacobson was our church bus driver for 50 years. He would often pick up kids for bus ministry, or drive students to summer camp. If ever there was an event that needed a driver, there you would find Sam selflessly serving kids in the community.

I never once heard Sam complain. Whether in passing or in deep conversation, when asked the question, How are you doing, Sam? without fail, Sam’s answer would always be, "Thanks for asking, I am more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus. Delivered with a smile, full of hope until the last day I saw him, that was his answer. Sam knew that everything in life here on Earth would pass away, but his soul was settled; settled in a way he could take hold of grasping everything God had given him. Every day settled in a way that led others to find their same peace.

I believe Sam’s response is a profound statement for the times that we live in. In a world of complete chaos, grasping at anything just to feel stability, I wonder how different it would look if we carried Sam’s spirit; committed to living lives that are anchored in the word of God and dealing with the things that may distract and deplete the life out of our souls. A person so committed would perfectly embody the message we are going to explore in this book: the life of a settled soul.

No matter where you are, Our culture is seeking, searching, and striving. We live in a world filled with unsettled souls looking for more and longing for what’s next. There are so many unsettling encounters we face each day, but we get to choose how we settle ourselves so we can create a lasting, meaningful life.

If we are going to lead others to a settled soul, we must possess one ourselves! Even if we don’t realize it, what we are searching for is the life-changing truth of the good news of Jesus. Our souls long for the presence of our Creator." We must allow God to settle specific areas of our souls so that we can take hold of the purpose He has for each of us. It’s up to us to allow Jesus into the deepest parts of our being to settle the innermost depths of our souls. We must respond to His voice.

Have you ever noticed that we are always looking forward to the next thing because we are not satisfied with what we have? What if I told you that everything you have right now is everything you need to take hold of a life of freedom? We were designed to labor, to achieve, dream, and to create. But when dreaming, creating, and achieving are for the thrill of escaping our present, we begin to have an unsettled soul. Consider for a moment your own story. What dreams have filled your heart, and have you captured them with your life?

Your story is not yet complete. It doesn’t matter how unsettled you find yourself now. Through settling our souls, we will have the freedom to step valiantly into what is next without any burdens, doubts, or regrets from yesterday. The future will once again look as bright, hopeful, and vast as God intended. We will have the world in the palm of our hand once again and the opportunity to make an impact in the lives around us.

We cannot fully accept the heart of God and His desire that we live a full life until we have learned how to settle our souls. We need to identify the areas where the Word of God needs to settle. We must anchor ourselves by settling five specific areas of our souls if we are going to embrace how we were designed. Not because that is where we find our purpose, but because that is where we share our voice. That is where we settle our souls so that we don’t have/need to settle in life.

If we don’t go through this beautiful journey, we will be stuck in our discontent. We will never fully realize the dreams that God has put in our hearts. We will continue in the unfulfilling roles that rob so much of our life, joy, and creativity. We will continue in our string of hurtful, unequally yoked relationships that create huge burdens on our souls. And, perhaps most sadly, we will never realize the fullness of the incredible God-given potential that our Lord has placed within us from the beginning.

A SETTLED SOUL HELPS US LEAD

The quest for a settled soul is a personal journey of discovery to find key areas of your life that, if not settled, would prevent you from ever settling in your life. As leaders in different areas of life, we want our families, our co-workers, and our teams not to settle. We want to continue to achieve our God-given purpose, and we want everyone in our life to do the same.

But too often, we settle. We settle for the wrong things, leaving our souls unsettled in the process. We need to become people who create environments that are encouraging, uplifting, and irresistible. But that has to start within us. There’s absolutely no way we can lead others to embrace a settled soul if we do not possess one ourselves. Our first order of business must be capturing a settled soul as our own.

We are all leaders in some facet of life. It may not be in the sense that usually comes to mind, which is the workplace. We all have some areas where we influence other people and lead them in some way. It could be at home or work, but the same principles apply. By settling our souls and not settling in life, we’ll inspire those around us to do the same.

Too often, teams, organizations, and even our families have angst and unsettled divisions that are eating away at their health! If we could just settle those things, we could turn things back in the right direction. Not only that, but we could elevate every aspect of those we influence to a completely new level where they begin to realize the extent of their potential in Christ.

We must remember that, first and foremost, His people are built upon the love of Christ. Jesus’ love has no room for dissension, strife, and the fracturing of the