"He Restores”
There is wonderful blessing and reassurance to be found in meditating on our Heavenly Father’s heart of love and tender mercies toward broken things. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise” Psalm 51:17. Let’s look for a few moments at God’s powerful work of restoration in our lives. The word restore means to return to a former condition, place, or position; to repair or renovate so as to return to the original condition.
Restored to Fellowship: In our daily walk with the Lord, we are restored to fellowship after we have fallen away. When we confess our sins and seek His forgiveness, our Lord faithfully repairs what we have broken and returns us to communion with Him. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” 1 Jn. 1:9. We can read King David’s plea for forgiveness in Psalm 51, when Nathan the prophet comes to him, after David’s sin with Bathsheba. David prays in verse 12, “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.” David desires a righteous, holy, and gracious spirit (attitude, mind, and emotions), in contrast to the evil spirit that had so often gripped King Saul.
Restored to Strength: Additionally, when we are faint and weary, the Lord can return us to strength. “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul” Psalm 23:1-3a.
Restored to Health and Wholeness: In the New Testament, Jesus restored sight to the blind and healing to the lame. “(And) He saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other” Mark 3:5b. Both physical and spiritual healing are possible by our Omnipotent Christ.
Restored to Service: There is, however, another layer to the heavenly renovation process. When God restores something, He works all things for good in accordance with His eternal will and purpose. This is beautifully illustrated in Ruth 4:14-15: “And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the Lord, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that His name may be famous in Israel. And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him.” God did not only return to Naomi that which she lost. He “restored the years the locust had eaten” and provided for her future salvation in the person of Jesus Christ! Through the obedient faith of Ruth, Naomi’s grandson (Obed) would bring to her latter years renewal, restoration, and redemption! ~V.K.S.
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