I like to analyze things. I’m a thinker; especially when I try to figure out inspiration or messages from my Maker. I have long thought and rolled over in my mind, the phrase, “be still my soul… leave to thy God to order and provide.” I’m patiently waiting, or some days, not so patiently waiting for that order, and that providing.

The soul — what exactly is the soul? Is it the spirit only or is it the body and spirt? Sometimes it is the first, sometimes the second:

“And the spirit and the body are the soul of man. And the resurrection from the dead is the redemption of the soul. (D&C 88:15)

When I wake up at 4 AM, it’s dark and I really rather be asleep, but something awakens me and then I think, or maybe worry.  Shucks, I’m not supposed to do that “worry thing” — I know it is the opposite of faith, but I’m still an amateur. So I tell my soul to be still because I feel this angst and worry in my spirit  and in my physical body — it is in my soul I feel these things. Physically I feel it and spiritually I feel it. And so that phrase, “Be still my soul…” accurately describes my need.

Science has shown that worry and stress affect your physical body. So does laughter and happiness.  It affects both spirit and body = soul. When I hear, “be still my soul…” That is what I want. I want my soul to be still, to be calm, to place all my burdens at the feet of my Savior, and have faith that He knows, and I must “leave to my Lord to order and provide.”

And the word, “leave” is what I say to my dog when I really want her to “leave it.” I think of that —
“just leave it.”

“I don’t know how this is going to work, but it’s going to work out fine.” Don’t worry, the Lord will provide a way. Keep that feeling as the water begins to swell. There are many examples in the scriptures of how this works, and how it is a necessary part of learning to have faith. Faith is power. It’s going to work out.

President Gordon B. Hinckley admits that he must wrestle with this too – It isn’t as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don’t worry. I say that to myself every morning. It will all work out. If you do your best, it will all work out. Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future. The Lord will not forsake us. He will not forsake us. … If we will put our trust in Him, if we will pray to Him, if we will live worthy of His blessings, He will hear our prayers.

**The spirit separates from the body at death, to be re-joined in resurrection, resulting in an immortal soul.

**Other meanings of soul found in the LDS scriptures:
soul = the spirit only
See Encyclopedia of Mormonism