By Lisa S. Tarno

Summertime. I love to be on the back deck and put up the umbrella on the table and sit on my outside patio furniture and feel the warmth of the day or the coolness of night. I love to fire up the grill and do a majority of cooking outside with nature as my my backdrop versus tile as my back splash.

I got to thinking about the art of marinating and creating savory grilled meats. I usually score the meat making little cuts into it and the longer I let it soak in the marinade, the richer the flavor of the meat. This illustration is not lost for its spiritual inspiration.

In my life, when I take the time to be still before God and in life’s hardness where I have been “scored” already, I let the love of God soak in as I read, study, contemplate and apply his Word to my life. So often I run here and there and am easily distracted that I don’t take the much needed time to marinate my soul before God.

The result of distraction is much like un-marinated meat on the grill- it may be edible but not the most tasty. I don’t want my life to be like that. I don’t just want to live my life co-existing in the flutter of life with others. Rather, I want my life to be full of flavor, robust and memorable.

It takes time to marinate meat properly and likewise for our souls with God. Time spent with Him will meet our deepest needs to be known and loved. It’s where healing begins through the “scored” (cut) areas of our hearts absorbing more of His love to penetrate so that ultimately we can be transformed.

“If we marinate in God’s presence and let His love seep into the deepest places of our souls, we’ll find our soul’s most profound needs met in Him and by Him. That’s where healing comes and transformation begins to show.” ~Excerpt from Susie Larson’s book, Your Sacred Yes