Restoration

There are many who look back on their lives and have so many regrets because of wasted years, lost investments, broken relationships, poor decisions, conflicts, droughts, famines, health issues, catastrophes and the likes. The dominant question on many minds is, 'Can God restore what I have lost? Can He even in scenarios where I am without blame for the losses suffered?' As I pondered these issues, the story of Naomi came to mind.

Naomi witnessed firsthand a brutal famine in her home country. There must have a looming prospect of loss of crops, livestock and human lives in that season. So, her family left Bethlehem to seek greener pastures in another country, Moab, leaving behind friends, family and all she had known and grown to see. Unfortunately, ten years later, Naomi lost everything in a foreign land - her husband, her two adult sons and possibly the wealth they had saved and invested to settle there. Such devastating loss to one person in one period was a big blow, and one could understand her plea to be called Mara (bitter) instead of Naomi (pleasant). She had gone away full, but she was returning home empty.

Truth is, we still encounter similar stories in our days - heartbreaking reports of death, debilitating medical conditions, businesses gone bad, unexpected breakdown of relationships. And we often wonder, how can God restore such losses? Will He bring back the deceased loved ones to life or afford the exact same opportunities that were lost? But as we review different scriptural accounts, we will see that restoration may not mean that God will give the same thing we lost back. But, He has a way of repositioning us for His original intentions for our lives in spite of our losses.

In the first chapter of Joel, the prophet calls the people to mourn over a season of severe destruction. With the imagery of the destructive impact of vast armies of locusts on this farming society, he recounts the widespread losses experienced in the nation of Israel. There remained no hope of life in the parched grounds, failed crops, empty barns, consumed pastures, lean animals and dried streams around them. Yet, in the next chapter, he paints another picture of hope, indicating some light at the end of the tunnel.

24 And the [threshing] floors shall be full of grain and the vats shall overflow with juice [of the grape] and oil. 25 And I will restore or replace for you the years that the locust has eaten—the hopping locust, the stripping locust, and the crawling locust, My great army which I sent among you. 26 And 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 be put to shame.

Joel 2:24-26, AMPC

Is it not interesting that God was not restoring the crops or vine lost but the years of destruction? Meaning, He was giving back to them the ability to do more to recover what they lost previously. For this farming community, God was providing them a conducive environment - with former and latter rains - and seed for a supernatural harvest that will make up for their past losses. For us too, God is going to give us divine ability to reclaim, repair and reinstate in a relatively shorter time what we have lost in former years.

Years ago, in a ministration, I shared a testimony of a prayer partner who built a house based on 1 Chronicles 14:1 (NLT), "Then King Hiram of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with cedar timber, and stonemasons and carpenters to build him a palace". There was a medical doctor in that meeting who left with this word without saying a word to me. Apparently, his father who was due for retirement was in church the week before when he was called that their house was on fire. Imagine the sense of shock and panic, especially for one whose employment years were ending. In his own words, it took his dad several years to build that small house and to see him lose it all at such an age was sad.

But, hearing how my prayer partner, a teacher who was an impossible situation, could build a house because God literally sent him carpenters and masons encouraged Him to trust God's word. About 6 months later, he came to our prayer meeting at the KNUST botanical gardens, shared his testimony and showed me a picture of the newly built two-storey building. Humanly speaking, it was not possible but God literally made people donate materials free of charge to his dad. Now, he had built something grander than what they had initially. The God who restores is able to do same and more for you.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us ...

Ephesians 3:20, NIV

There are times that God cannot restore the same thing lost but know for sure that whatever He gives you will be more than what you lost. We may not see our deceased loved ones raised on this side of life as Job's account teaches us. Job's sons and daughters who passed away were not resuscitated but He was blessed with other children at the end of his life. And we know, that on account of Christ's resurrection, his first set of children would be reconciled to him on the other side of life.

I remember another restoration from this botanical garden prayers involving a woman I was praying for whose baby died in her womb. We believed God for a miracle to stop or reverse this death but she lost that pregnancy. After a tough season, God answered her prayers and she got twins. She lost one but God gave her two in return. The point is, God is able to restore but don’t limit the means and measure with which He will restore.

According to the dictionary, restore means to return (someone or something ) to a former condition, a place or position; or repair or renovate (a building, work of art, etc.) so as to return it to its original condition. In this computer age, we are quite familiar with the possibilities when we wrongly or intentionally delete an item from our computer. There is an option to restore it back to its original position as if nothing happened. So, if the manufacturer of a computer can add such an important feature in his design, how much more God? Doesn't He have the power to restore something that was lost intentionally or out of negligence?

To experience divine restoration, it is crucial to know what God's Word says about such issues and the conditions that pave way for His visitation. Every act of divine restoration begins with prophetic declarations and turning back to God in repentance. In other words, we must change our minds and ways from that which do not please God and align our hearts and ways with His. Through the passage of the Law from generation to generation, the children of Israel knew this prerequisite and God's promise of restoration. So, whenever they experienced losses, they had to heed God's word and repent.

1 “In the future, when you experience all these blessings and curses I have listed for you, and when you are living among the nations to which the Lord your God has exiled you, take to heart all these instructions. 2 If at that time you and your children return to the Lord your God, and if you obey with all your heart and all your soul all the commands I have given you today, 3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes. He will have mercy on you and gather you back from all the nations where he has scattered you.

Deuteronomy 30:1-3, NLT

Israel was always to be led by God but sometimes they wandered astray seeking their own way. Yet when they heeded God's word through the Law or the prophets and returned to him, they found assurance that God would restore their fortunes. But, restoration may not take the form we envisage; the basis for restoration is how God wants things to be from the beginning. God has an original intent for your marriage, family, health, work, children, environment or nation. So far as it is not how He designed it to be, then He is able to restore it when you partner with Him.

To experience restoration, we must know the heart of God and stand firm on His willingness and ability to restore. It is clear in Scriptures that God's intention is never to destroy humans but to restore us. When we read in 2 Samuel 14 how David cared about his erring vagabond son, Absalom, and reconcile with him; or how the father in the parable of the prodigal son watched out for and restored the lost son to the family, there is no plausible reason to think that God will do less. The birth, ministry, sufferings, death and resurrection of Jesus is enough proof that God wants restoration for us more than we do.

Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14, NLT

The people of Israel knew who they had been called to be - a chosen people of God. They knew God, the Creator, had the power to turn situations around when they believed. When they mourned before God for their sins with fasts and prayers, they also petitioned Him on the basis of His promises and past records. They praised Him with the testimonies of past deliverance and restorations in the days of their fathers. They had read and heard of global restoration as in the days of Noah (Genesis 8); national restoration in the Exodus from Egypt, during the famine of Samaria (2 Kings 7) and the return of the captives from Babylon (Psalm 126); as well as personal or family restorations like Job and Naomi's.

As we too have been seeking God on this 40-day journey, we must position ourselves for His restoration. If our hearts are turned away from our wicked ways in repentance and set on Him, then we can expect His promise in the prophecy below to unfold in our lives. Meditate on it and believe God for personal, family, communal, national and global restorations.