As Christians, we will face trials and tribulations in our daily walk. Whatever you are facing right now, God is able to restore, to put back, to replace, to make whole again. Of course we have a part to play as well. The renewing of our minds, some hard work, love, patience and commitment to the process of change. And all the while God is there to uphold us.
Let’s explore the various areas in which God restores us.
Our God of Restoration
One of the cornerstones of the Christian faith is that Christ has reconciled us back to the Father, through His sacrificial death. “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” 2 Corinthians 5:18
Without that we would be doomed to an eternity in hell, paying the price for our sins. But as Christians we have such a great hope in Jesus and the work of the cross that we can be expectant and rejoicing that one day we will be in heaven enjoying a perfect relationship with Him.(1)
But until then, we need to not grow weary in doing good (2), we will still be facing trials and tribulations in our daily walk (3). For some, these trials may be financial, health or relationship issues. For others, perhaps emotional and mental challenges. Whatever you are facing right now, God is able to restore, to put back, to replace, to make whole again. Of course we have a part to play as well. The renewing of our minds (4), some hard work, love, patience and commitment to the process of change. And all the while God is there to uphold us. (5)
Let’s explore the various areas in which God restores us.
Our God of Restoration
1. Spiritual Restoration
The first and probably the most important area is a spiritual restoration. We all have to come to a point in our lives where we have to acknowledge that we need God, His guidance, His wisdom, His love and received from His faithfulness. Our first time commitment to follow Christ is a beautiful and life changing experience. In Acts 2: 38, Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”
Then life happens …. We turn away from Him, do our own thing, fall away and fall apart. But God wants us to return to Him so that we can be fully restored. “Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago”. Acts 3:19-21
Our God of Restoration
In the restoring of our backsliding, God requires us to return to Him with a contrite heart, in prayer and fasting, so that our sins are forgiven. “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping and mourning;” Joel 2: 12-13. God so wants us to know Him intimately and in Jeremiah 24: 7 we are given this promise: “I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.” And there is an additional benefit. “He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot Yes, You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” Micah 7:19
So whilst the scriptures above refer to our repentance as individuals, they also apply to nations as well. “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14
2. Restoring Relationships
We have a role to play when it comes to restoring relationships. It’s an active role, rather than a passive one of standing in the shadows watching someone fall away. No, as fellow brothers and sisters, we are to come alongside someone who has transgressed and lost their way and gently restore them, comfort them, and in collaboration with the Holy Spirt guide them into all truth. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. (6) “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.” Galatians 6:1.
God is active in this process too. “I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and to his mourners. Isaiah 57:18. David in Psalm 23 also says it so well in v 3 “He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”
3. God Restores Fortunes
The scriptures in Joel chapter 2 are often quoted and well known of how the locusts have some and destroyed our crop, our fruit, our seed. “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame.” Joel 2:25-26. Whilst calamity might have come upon you, God says that you will not be put to shame again. The result of this restoration is not only spiritual but physical as well.
This is confirmed by Isaiah in chapter 61:7 “Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonour they shall rejoice in their lot; therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; they shall have everlasting joy.”
We need to remember that the devil comes to rob, kill and destroy (7). But after the season of devouring, there are great blessings to look forward to. Everlasting joy, a double portion and more.
Here are just a few more examples:
– Job 42:10 – “And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And
the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.”
– Jeremiah 30:1-3 – “The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you. For behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah, says the Lord, and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall take possession of it.”
– Jeremiah 29:11-14 – “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.”
– Deuteronomy 30:1-10 – “And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. …”
4. Physical Restoration
There are so many people that walk around sick and wounded, lacking physical strength, infirm in some way or another. But we have a God that heals, a Jehovah Rapha, Jesus Christ who is our healer. Praise God for that!
Our God of Restoration
Luke 4:18 – “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed”
God is in the business of restoring our health. In Jeremiah 30:17 it says “For I will restore you to health And I will heal you of your wounds,’ declares the LORD.” All we have to do is call out to Him. “Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise. “ Jeremiah 17:14
Many miracles are recorded in the Bible in both the Old and New Testaments. Blind eyes opened, paralysis and leprosy removed, captives set free, resurrections and so many more. (8)
So if you are sick today, call on the name of the Lord. “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Act 2:21. That salvation is an all-encompassing promise which includes healing.
5. Time of Restoration
We live today in an “instant coffee” society, where endurance and patience and waiting for things to happen isn’t our greatest strength. We want things to happen now, today, this instant. But God clearly tells us that we are to develop patience and endurance. In 1 Peter 5:10 we are told that “after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” Not something that we particularly like to hear. And so in the meantime as we wait on God, as we entwine ourselves to Him in His presence, we will renew our strength. (9)
David, the great psalmist and King put it this way: “You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again. You will increase my greatness and comfort me again.” Psalm 71:20-21
We are also to not forget that whilst the enemy tried to destroy us, God does work things for our good. (10)
6. Restoration of All Things
One day … one day, and the day is soon approaching, ALL things will be restored. In that day the fulfilment of God’s word, His promises to us will be fully evident, fully alive, fully whole. What a glorious day to look forward to! Acts 3:21 – “whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.”. In Revelation 21:1-5 John records for us what he saw: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them”
I trust that God restores to you all that you need to be whole and complete.
In His name
Blessings
Désirée Borchert ©
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
(1) Rom 15: 13 – May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
(2) Gal 6: 9 – Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
(3) John 16:33 – I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
(4) Rom 12: 2 – Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.
(5) Ps 145:14 – The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down.
(6) John 16:13 – He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come
(7) John 10:10 – The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full
(8) Mark 8:25, 2 Kings 8:1-6, 2 King 5, Matt 8: 1-4, Luke 5: 18, Mark 5
(9) Isaiah 40:31 – But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
(10) Romans 8:28 – And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.