All Your Heart: To Turn

All Your Heart, All Your Soul: The Work of Restoration and Why it Matters

Part One: TO TURN

“To turn” is the Hebraic meaning of restore. More precisely, it means “to turn again.” The addition of the word again piques my interest. It implies that the original state of something or someone is altered.

That’s us. We need to be restored. First from sin and death. (Thank you, Jesus, for making a way!) Also, from the day-to-day shifts that occur in life. We suffer all kinds of losses from jobs, to people, to dreams, innocence, money, etc. Each shift has the potential to turn us away from God. A little here and little there can add up to not only resisting God but giving our love to something else.

But. When the Lord restores, it’s a complete work! Every detail will turn again to its rightful condition. I am learning that when I let God restore me (heart, soul, mind, and strength), all the other alterations or side effects turn as well.

Seeing our need to “turn again” is ground zero. It’s a humble beginning. If we can’t or won’t see the need, the humility necessary for restoration will be absent. Perhaps, even worse, the desire to be whole will be missing too. We will talk about desire in depth in the next segment. For today, the point is to know what restoration is and to see the need for it. Restoration is the road to loving God with all our hearts. The Lord divinely intervenes in our lives. From that place, we keep walking with him. We keep examining the condition of our hearts so we can be whole towards him.

We see this beautifully demonstrated by David in Psalm 139. This a great starting prayer for restoration. More precisely, it is a needed life-long prayer.

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting! Psalm 139:23-24

Grievous means sorrowful, wicked, or painful. If we apply this to restoration, we invite the Holy Spirit to do two things. First, to reveal any altered thing in us, new or old. And, then, we ask him to lead us in the way of everlasting. Or, if I may, to turn us around.

Again, seeing our need to “turn again” is ground zero, and it’s a humble beginning.

If we survey the Bible, we will find restoration again and again. It’s quite beautiful and hopeful. We will also find a few hard-hearted people who forfeited the gift of being turned. These are the saddest parts of the Bible for me. They are red flags, too, that I watch for. Even some of my biblical heroes had arrogant moments with God. If I’m in a confusing or frustrating situation or season of life, I have learned to ask, Am I being prideful like Saul here? Am I in a stupor like Sampson right now? Is fear dictating my actions?

All that to say, the worst thing we can do or assume is that we are somehow different, that we have evolved from having a grievous way or brokenness in us. We have to be willing to recognize and acknowledge our need “to turn” or be turned back toward Jesus, and that it is an ongoing need.

I encourage you to take a few minutes and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any brokenness and grievous way that may have shifted something in your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Let him show you the way of everlasting in salvation and maturity in Christ.

Jesus, thank you for being a restorer. Thank you for making a way for us to be wholly yours. Turn us again until we can love you with all of our hearts.

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