RESTORATION NOW? IN THIS LIFE?
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I don’t know about you, but in my past, there were lots of plans that I made that turned out to be dead ends or so I thought at the time. I had hopes and dreams that lead to nothing but disappointments. There were years when I thought the “pain” would never end. At the same time, I had a strong belief in God, believed that Jesus was my Savior, but I hadn’t fully placed my trust in Him. As time passed, situations would arise that mirrored past scenarios and I would be afraid it was history repeating itself until…
Until God got a hold of me and convinced me of His love, that His plans for me are ALWAYS good. As I began to trust, my fear gave way to faith and I began to understand that everything that comes into my life is one more evidence of God’s faithfulness.
The amazing thing is that when God brings restoration, it doesn’t happen through my efforts. God uses people or circumstances outside of my control or an insight from scripture to bring about that sense of restoration... restoration that gives meaning to a past experience or that assures me I don't need to carry my "old" fears into the present.
Until God got a hold of me and convinced me of His love, that His plans for me are ALWAYS good. As I began to trust, my fear gave way to faith and I began to understand that everything that comes into my life is one more evidence of God’s faithfulness.
The amazing thing is that when God brings restoration, it doesn’t happen through my efforts. God uses people or circumstances outside of my control or an insight from scripture to bring about that sense of restoration... restoration that gives meaning to a past experience or that assures me I don't need to carry my "old" fears into the present.
To give you a brief example, growing up I had aspirations to be a ballet dancer with a professional company (in spite of my more or less stocky frame even at that young age). I took ballet lessons for seven years and kept a scrapbook of newspaper articles about ballet in our city and kept the programs from all the ballets I attended, all the while feeling a failure because I couldn’t keep up in with the technical demands of the advanced class. About 15 years ago, holding on to the scrapbook seemed pointless, so I gave it to the local ballet company. If they tossed it, “C’est la vie.” When attending a ballet performance two years later, I was astounded to read a story about the history of ballet in our city in the program and my name was listed under the history credits along with a special thank you! That, folks, is restoration! Sometimes I hear people say, “Life shouldn’t be this hard.” At least twice in the scriptures, we find a promise that “sorrow" and "pain" won't last forever.
Isaiah writes, "The ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away" (33:10, The Message).
In Revelation, John writes, “He [God] will wipe away all tears from their eyes. There will be no more death, no more grief or crying or pain. The old things have disappeared” (21:4 Good News).
A reading of the scriptures tells us that we live in a “now but not yet” world. For most people, experience bears out this truth.
Lord, open our eyes and ears to see your restoration at work in our lives and in our world. Let us never lose hope in the final restoration to come! Amen.
