He Restores My Soul: Low Battery

"He restores my soul." — Psalm 23:3a

My daughter turned one month old this week. Sleep is starting to come in slightly longer stretches, which I'm grateful for, but most days I still feel like I'm running on 10% by early afternoon. My body knows it. My patience knows it. Even my prayers have gotten shorter, not because I have less to say to God, but because I don't have much left to say it with.

I think a lot of us are running through life that way, whether it's a newborn or something else entirely draining the tank.

The warning signs are rarely subtle. Snapping at your spouse over something small. Dreading the things that used to bring you joy. Reaching for your phone before you've even opened your eyes in the morning. Most of us know exactly what those signs mean, and most of us keep going anyway, because there's always one more thing that feels more urgent than rest.

How He Restores My Soul When You're Running on Empty

Even Jesus, fully God, didn’t operate that way. In Mark 6:31, after His disciples returned from a demanding stretch of ministry, He told them, "Come away by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." Not because the work was finished — people were still coming and going so much that they didn’t even have a chance to eat. He called them away anyway. Rest wasn’t a reward for finishing. It was part of how they were meant to keep going.

David understood this too. In Psalm 23, he doesn’t say the Lord suggests green pastures or offers still waters. He writes, "He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul" (vv. 2-3). A sheep left to itself will graze until it’s exhausted and never stop long enough to actually be nourished. It takes a shepherd to make it lie down.

You Can't Fix Depletion by Trying Harder

Here’s what I keep having to relearn this month: I can’t parent my way out of exhaustion by trying harder. No amount of gritting my teeth through another 3 a.m. feeding restores what’s actually running low in me. That has to come from being connected to a source I didn’t generate myself.

So if you’re depleted today — new baby or not — don’t wait until you’re completely empty to notice. The invitation isn’t to do more. It’s to come away, even for a few minutes, and let Him make you lie down.

Daily Practice: Somewhere in today’s chaos — a feeding, a nap that finally happens, a quiet minute in the car — pause and pray one honest sentence to God about how your soul is actually doing. Don’t wait for a full night’s sleep to ask Him to restore you. Let Him start now.

Always improve the present moment.