Restoration

I’ve been meditating on scriptures about restoration. Recently, I was praying, “Father, restore us back…,” and I immediately heard the Holy Spirit say, “No. Forward.” I paused in my prayer and thought, Restore us forward? And then I blurted out, “Yes! Forward, restore us forward.”

The restoration process involves getting back to the bare essentials, but that is just the prep work. Everything from that place is new, it doesn’t look like the old, and it moves us forward.

Restoration is different from repair. Repair work tries to fix what is broken; stitch it together, glue it back. Repairs are often our efforts to a broken situation. But God is the Restorer, and with surrendered people he can do a work beyond our ability to fathom.

Friends, there is a new song and a new thing the Lord is dreaming of. As with most kingdom things, there are personal and corporate applications. It applies to individuals and families, small communities, and entire nations. Ask him to show you what he wants to do.

Jesus, don’t let us get stuck trying to figure out how to make the past better. Restore us. Turn us again toward you and save us (Psalm 80, the refrain). Set our feet on solid ground and give us a new song to sing (Psalm 40).

Amen!