The Anointing Grace

God Won’t Give What Your Soul Can’t Carry: The Truth About Restoration

By Sherita Jones | The Anointing Grace

There’s a line in Psalm 23 that we often quote in passing, usually when we’re seeking comfort:

“He restoreth my soul.”

But I’ve come to see it not as a soft whisper of peace, but as a sacred interruption. A necessary pause. A process of divine repair.

God has been walking me through the valley of soul restoration, not because I asked Him to, but because I need it. Without my soul being restored, I would never be able to fully carry what He’s promised me.

Why Does the Soul Need to Be Restored?

Because life breaks us. Your soul, the seat of your mind, will, and emotions, can become shattered over time. And it doesn’t happen all at once. It happens through: Abandonment, Betrayal, Rejection, Abuse, False identities, Disappointments with God and people, and sin.

We survive. We move on. We build. We serve. But underneath all the “strength,” the soul is fragmented, guarded, jaded, tired, and no longer whole.

Psalm 23 doesn’t say “He fixed my soul once.” It says “He restoreth” that’s present continuous tense.

Because soul wounds don’t just come from the past. They can also come from: waiting on promises that feel empty, being ruled against by a judge again and again while the narcissist walks free, carrying silent heartbreaks from a wounded faith. God doesn’t just heal the surface. He restores the soul, every fragment.

What an Un-Restored Soul Looks Like

You can love God and still have an unrestored soul.

An unrestored soul often looks like:

Fear disguised as “wisdom”. Control masked as “discernment”. Constant striving, yet never feeling “good enough”. Wanting affirmation from people more than approval from God. Craving to be seen, yet terrified of exposure. Believing God can bless others but not fully trusting He will for you.

An unrestored soul sabotages destiny. Not because God won’t give it, but because we can’t carry it without sorrow.

Because without restoration, we’ll worship the blessing instead of the Giver. Let people define us instead of God. Fall apart under the weight of the promise. Use platforms to medicate what God wants to heal. Treat waiting like punishment instead of preparation or positioning.

What a Healed Soul Looks Like

A healed soul looks like peace. A healed soul walks uprightly, not just morally, but in alignment with Heaven.

A healed soul is able to:

Trust God’s timing without falling into despair. Want what He wants, not just what looks good. Love without being controlled by fear. Wait without complaining. Worship without needing a blessing attached. Rest in knowing you’re already loved and seen God.

“For the LORD God is a sun and shield: The LORD will give grace and glory: No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” ‭‭Psalm‬ ‭84‬:‭11‬ ‭KJV‬‬

That word uprightly isn’t about performance. It’s about restoration. It’s about walking in truth and wholeness.

Restoration is Not Pretty, It’s a Process

People often declared over me: “You’re already healed! And I don’t disagree.

But I also know that healing has layers, and restoration is a journey.

Restoration looks like:

Crying out to God with chest pain from heartbreak. Being honest about bitterness and disappointment. Realizing some of your desires were born out of brokenness. Confronting why you want what you want. Letting go of false strength. Owning the pain so God can touch it.

I now understand why I’m still waiting on the promises God whispered to me in hidden places. Because I need to be ready to receive them without them destroying me or the promises becoming an idol.

An Unrestored Soul Hinders God’s full access to flow through us. Our ability to receive what’s good and holy. Our discernment, because trauma filters truth. Our desires, because brokenness reshapes them. Our obedience, because fear still fights surrender.

If the soul isn’t whole, it will reject the very thing it asked for. It’ll call healthy love “too much.” It’ll run from opportunity. It’ll resent waiting. It’ll worship with lips but wrestle with trust.

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭23‬:‭1‬ ‭KJV‬‬

This isn’t about just our needs, it’s about our wants. When Jesus becomes your Shepherd and you let Him restore your soul, He begins to shape your desires. What you want begins to reflect what Heaven wants. Your desires will be from a restored soul.

But without restoration, we desire from lack, Insecurity, Fear, Rejection, and Competition. Restoration rewrites our “want” list.

My Confession

I didn’t know restoration would take this long.

I didn’t know healing would be this messy.

I didn’t know waiting would feel like my life is over.

But now I see, He’s not punishing me. He’s preparing me. He’s positioning me. He loves me too much to give me what I’m not restored enough to handle. So I’m no longer rushing the process. Because before the table, before the promises, He restoreth my soul.

God won’t give what your soul can’t carry. Discover the truth about restoration, healing, and why your soul must be whole to receive more.

When the Weapon Forms, But Doesn’t Prosper

By Sherita Jones | The Anointing Grace

Let me start by asking you something: What does “prospering” really look like?

Because if we’re honest, many of us have equated prosperity with winning in the natural. With comfort. With visible favor. But what if I told you that what looks like a loss in the natural, is still a win in the Spirit?

I’m in the middle of a battle. A real one. A custody case where the court has ruled in favor of the father, multiple times. From the outside looking in, it may appear like I’ve lost. In the natural, the reason for the case in the first place, was given to the Father. Even allowing him to have rights, and no financial responsibility. Like the weapon was formed and he won in the natural. But in true reality, in the spirit, he lost everything.

The Spirit of God revealed something deeper.

The weapon didn’t prosper.

You see, we misinterpret Isaiah 54:17 when we think “no weapon formed against you shall prosper” means that the weapon won’t show up. That we won’t face disappointment. That the judge will always rule in our favor. That the fire won’t get hot, or the storm won’t rage.

But the promise was never that the weapon wouldn’t form. It was that it wouldn’t prosper.

So what is prospering, really? The adversary isn’t just out to inconvenience you. His goal is far more sinister. He wants your faith. He wants your trust in God. He wants you to curse the very One who gave you life, just like Job’s wife suggested to him. He wants you bitter. Silent. Defeated. Disconnected. Broken beyond repair. My faith took some blows, but I’m still here. I’m still standing firmly on the rock, which is Jesus. I’m drawing closer to Him everyday. So that weapon didn’t prosper.

So if you’re still standing, still praising, still worshipping, still believing, still pressing, still trusting God in the midst of it all?

Then hear me clearly: the weapon didn’t prosper.

Let’s go deeper.

Think about the crucifixion. Satan thought he’d won. Jesus was betrayed. Beaten. Humiliated. Nailed to a cross. Crucified while the people chose Barabbas. Every weapon formed, emotionally, physically, spiritually, was used against Him. And He died, by giving up the Ghost.

But death wasn’t defeat. It was destiny.

Because through His death, we gained life.

The enemy got what he wanted in the natural. But in the Spirit? He lost everything.

That’s the same pattern with our life. The court may not have ruled in my favor in the natural. The bills may not be paid this month. The door you’ve been praying about might still be closed. But if you’re still standing on the foundation that no other man can lay, Christ Jesus, then the enemy lost. Period!

Let me tell you this: stop watching the weapons. Watch your worship.

Focus not on the courtroom outcome, but the peace that passes all understanding. The peace that shouldn’t be there, but somehow is. That’s how you know God is moving.

God is not slack concerning His promises. What you’re facing now? It’s part of the process that brings about glory. So don’t just look for the absence of war, look for the presence of faith in the fire. That’s what real prosperity looks like.

So the next time you feel defeated, ask yourself:

“Did the enemy get what he really wanted?

Which is for you to walk away from the one true God.”And if your answer is “no”, because you’re still standing, still praising, still worshipping, still seeking, then remember this:

The weapon formed. But it didn’t prosper.

Crossroads of the Soul: Choosing Faith When Trauma, Disappointment & Confusion Remain

By Sherita Jones | The Anointing Grace

There are moments in life where movement feels impossible. Not because we’ve stopped dreaming, but because we don’t know which way is safe.

I call it the 4 way stop of the soul.

You arrive here not by choice, but by circumstance. After enduring storm after storm, heartbreak after heartbreak, you find yourself stalled at an intersection where every road has a name.

Faith: You want to believe again, to move forward, to hope.

Trauma: The ache beneath the surface, whispering old fears.

Disappointment: The memories of unanswered prayers and failed expectations.

Confusion: The silent, gnawing uncertainty that asks, “What now, God?”

And you, beloved, are the one holding the wheel, heart full, engine running, unsure which turn leads to life and which one circles you back to pain.

But this isn’t just a delay. It’s a divine pause.

“Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.” Jeremiah‬ ‭6‬:‭16‬ ‭KJV‬‬

We Don’t Always Choose Trauma Consciously. Sometimes It Chooses Us by Familiarity.

Let’s be honest.

Sometimes we default to disappointment or trauma. Not because we love pain, but because it’s familiar. It doesn’t catch us off guard. We know what to expect.

But faith? Faith feels risky. Faith feels like exposure. Faith feels like hoping again, and that’s terrifying when you’ve barely recovered from the last letdown.

And so, in our survival, we build walls. Walls to keep hurt out, but they end up keeping hope out too.

That, my friend, is the evidence of an unhealed soul. Not a weak one. Not a disobedient one. A wounded one.

What Does an Unhealed Soul Do?

It chooses predictability over possibility. It assumes pain before promise. It prays but doesn’t expect. It worships but struggles to trust.

An unhealed soul doesn’t reject God, it fears what He might allow again.

Because you’ve believed before. You’ve fasted. You’ve stood in faith. And still, the rug was pulled out from beneath you.

So now faith feels like a trapdoor and disappointment feels like the safer seat.

But the truth is this, God isn’t asking you to pretend. He’s inviting you to return.

What If Faith Isn’t Gone, Just Bruised?

Let me whisper this to your weary soul, Faith isn’t dead. It’s waiting for your return. Trauma isn’t the driver anymore, it’s a passenger that needs healing. Disappointment has built walls, but they’re not made of stone. God knows how to break through. Confusion doesn’t mean you’re lost, it means He’s inviting you to lean not on your own understanding.

“He restoreth my soul” from Psalm 23:3 isn’t a poetic filler, it’s a lifeline.

It means God is returning your soul, your thoughts, emotions, and identity back to wholeness. Back to peace. Back to truth.

The Ancient Hebrew Word for “Restoreth”

שׁוּב – shuwb (Strong’s H7725)

To return. To bring back. To recover. To refresh

In ancient Hebrew picture language:

Shin (ש) – teeth, to consume/destroy

Vav (ו) – nail/hook, to connect

Bet (ב) – house/home/family

Together, it paints this picture:

“The One who destroys what broke you, connects you back to the house (His presence), and brings you home again.”

That’s restoration. Not a surface fix. A soul return.

What’s Blocking You From Choosing Faith?

The answer is likely fear. Because faith isn’t just belief. Faith requires vulnerability. For me, I couldn’t see past all the evidence of my past and my current experiences that tells me I’ll just end up hurt again. So FEAR will paralyze you, if you let it.

But God isn’t asking you to leap. He’s inviting you to inch forward. Just a step. Just a whisper of trust. Just one moment where you say: “Lord, I don’t know how, but help me believe again.”

Let Me Be Honest With You

I’ve lived in the intersection. I’ve sat in my car, spiritually parked, unable to move forward because I wrestled with faith that once burned bright but now flickers low. The scales have been removed from my eyes, so I know trauma, disappointment, and confusion is not the right path, but choosing faith feels like I’ll be hurt all over again.

And here’s what God helped me to see. Before the breakthrough, before the promises, before the restoration of things, God restores the soul.

Because if He gave you the promise while your soul was still fragmented, you’d either, worship the blessing instead of Him. Crumble under the weight of it. Or use the promise to medicate your pain instead of surrendering it.

What a Restored Soul Begins to Look Like.

Peace in the deep places. Trust that doesn’t require proof. Emotions that serve, not rule. Boundaries rooted in wholeness, not fear. Worship that flows from intimacy, not desperation

A restored soul breathes differently. It hopes without panic. It waits without spiraling. It trusts, even when it doesn’t understand.

So What Now?

You’re still at the stop sign. But the wind of God is stirring.

Here’s how to move forward. Acknowledge the intersection. Don’t pretend you’re not wrestling. Pray from the middle of it. You don’t need a polished prayer. You just need a surrendered one. Ask for restoration. Not just relief. Not just a breakthrough. Ask Him to do the deeper work. Don’t rush. Let Him whisper when it’s time to move. Don’t choose trauma again just because it’s predictable. Choose the road marked “Faith”even if you’re limping toward it. Faith may not feel safe yet, but it is holy. And it leads to healing.

You’re not broken beyond repair. You’re not too far gone to believe again. You’re not behind schedule, you’re at the starting line of restoration.

Even this blog. Even this moment. Even that whisper of “God, help me.” That was a step, and Heaven saw it.

“He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭23‬:‭3‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Not once. Not partially. But continually. Until the soul is whole. Until fear is no longer the compass. Until trauma no longer drives the choices. Until faith becomes your home again.

You can breathe again. You can believe again. You can begin again.

And the Shepherd will walk every step with you.