Soil Erosion is the gradual wearing away of the land by water, wind and general weather conditions. Sand erosion is the effect of erosion on our beaches.
In 1999 the 208 foot Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in North Carolina was relocated to more than a quarter-mile back from the shoreline where it was threatened by the encroaching Atlantic Ocean. Erosion along the shore had chewed away about 1300 feet of beach, bringing the waves within 150 feet of the sentinel (when it was erected in 1870, it stood some 1500 feet from the waves). Erosion is not just plaguing the Outer Banks. Coastal residents up and down the United States are worrying about undermined cliffs, disappearing beaches and the occasional fallout of the “foolish man” building his house on the sand.
Soul Erosion is the gradual wearing a way of a person’s spiritual life and vitality caused, not always by storms generated in life, but by the daily conflicts we’re forced to withstand. Such conflicts take only millimeters away from you, but after years you realize miles of your soul has been encroached. The scar from the “friend” who backstabbed you years ago is still tender to the touch. The social injustice continues to rear its ugly head and it seems far from being corrected, much less even acknowledged (usually it’s defended). The daily caring for a loved one whose health slowly deteriorates before you find all hope vanishing. Soul Erosion is a real and dangerous spiritually environmental condition that cannot be ignored; it has detrimental effects on our lives.
Somehow Joseph was able to withstand Soul Erosion, without having to relocate his own beacon. He was betrayed by his brothers, separated from his father, sold into slavery as a teenager, falsely accused of a sexual crime and left to rot in prison. He had every reason to be angry, bitter and to lose his faith. However, we find him patiently enduring and seeking a way to serve God no matter what the circumstances. God never abandoned him (Gen. 39:2-3, 5, 21, 23). Yes, he wanted justice (Gen. 40:14). But he never allowed the injustice of his situation to erode his desire to forgive his brothers (Gen. 45:14). In fact, while he knew that they intended to harm him, he realized God was using it for something good (Gen. 50:20).
For Joseph he was left alone to monitor the erosion of his soul. We, on the other hand, have the Church to help prevent Soul Erosion.
While Soul Erosion does not draw the attention of other spiritual problems, people do come to a point where they wonder where the joy of living is found. Why am I so cynical? Why is the youth wasted on the young? Why can’t I forgive?
When I was a youth minister, I talked to a 70 year-old woman about her cynicism. She responded, “When you’re my age and have endured what I have had to endure, then you can lecture me about Christian living.” Maybe she’s right, for with time, optimism erodes leaving pessimism bare. Then again, the Hebrews’ writer says the church has a preventative role, “Let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another . . .” (Heb. 10:25) – and all the more as you survey the erosion of your soul
Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. only God is glorified)