1 Samuel 16:14 (NKJV)
“But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a distressing spirit from the Lord troubled him.”

The human soul was created to be occupied and therefore cannot be vacant. The human soul was not created to be empty and uninhabited. At creation, God breathed His breath of life into the nostrils of Adam and he became a living soul. This is God’s purpose and pattern for Man.

Whenever Man lives within God’s purpose, Man is in equilibrium; Man’s being is at rest and in the center of God’s will. Whenever Man departs from this purpose, he automatically loses his baseline, and everything begins to spin out of order. Too many are out of order for this reason.

God made Man to be a dwelling place for His Spirit. The soul of Man is shaped as a divine container, prepared for the indwelling of only One Being. No other being can fill that container effectively and comfortably. Just like God created one Eve for Adam (and no other woman could take that place), likewise God designed Man’s soul for His Spirit and His Spirit alone.

Inner emptiness, restlessness, and disturbance happen when the soul discovers that it is not properly occupied. Once God’s Spirit is not on the throne of our hearts, another spirit occupies it, bringing with it great fears, depressions, confusions, and general anxieties. Even when there is no reason for distress, the soul is without peace because of the void within.

This is what happened to Saul. Because of his actions, the “Spirit of the Lord departed.” Please note that it was Saul’s decisions and actions that created this void, and this was not God’s intention at all. But once God’s Spirit left him, another spirit came. This spirit brought distress and trouble. NLT says it brought torment, “that filled him with depression and fear.” How sad!

The greatest pursuit of life should be, to remain with God, to have Him live in us and fill us with His good Spirit. We should labor to avoid anything that “grieves” the Spirit of God. God does not want to strive and struggle with Man. God’s Spirit is too gentle for that. We must be vigilant about this. We need to be sensitive to Him and readily cooperate with Him so that He abides.

The opposite of having His abiding Spirit is torment, depressions, inner distress, fears, loss of relevance, and general inner trouble. It is torture to live outside the infilling of the Holy Spirit. The void is killing. Many have died, although still living, because they lack His Spirit. If we love ourselves and we love life, live in and by His Spirit. That’s the only way life will make sense.