To restore. To take what was broken and make it functionable again. To repair and renew something, bringing it back to it’s original strength, beauty and purpose.
God is a God of restoration. He takes us, broken and faulty, falling apart at the seams, and puts us back together again. Originally made perfect, yet now rusty remains of what we once were, He renews us completely and makes us new again. Piece by crumbling piece, He brings a whole man out of the wreckage that we call ourselves. He restores not only us but our relationship with Him, the one that was once lost to us by sin and guilt, bringing intimacy and communion with God out of the distance that once stood between us.
God is working restoration in my family. He is taking what was broken and faulty, falling apart at the seams, and is putting it back together again. So much more than flesh and blood, the enemy sought to poison what God had created good and holy, a family, my family. Seeking to kill and destroy, he used the weapons that he knows well: betrayal, bitterness, anger and shame. He thought he had won.
But my God is a God of restoration. What the enemy destroys, he has to restore sevenfold. God has promised me complete restoration for my family, sevenfold above and beyond what it was before. He has promised me new growth and new ministry for my family. And He has promised me that He remains faithful to His promises. As it says in Numbers 23:19, “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?”
God has taken me on such a journey with my family, teaching me humility, grace, forgiveness and the power of prayer. He has brought me from a place of unforgiveness and bitterness, a place where I dwelt in darkness and anger, to a place of passionate prayer and faith in God’s restoring love. Even being halfway across the globe from them, I know God is at work in my family, molding and shaping the hearts of my parents and my sisters. I have seen His hand work in miraculous ways in the midst of my family’s chaos, and I know I have only seen in part. He has been my Healer, my Prince of Peace and the One who hears my cry. He has been my Redeemer and my Protecter, my Defender and Warrior. He has been my strength when I had none. He has fought for me, His love. I am His beloved.
So I decided to celebrated Restoration Day. Yep, I made a holiday to remember my God’s faithfulness. From now on I set aside Febuary 7th as a day to praise Him for the work I have seen Him do in my family, to remember His faithfulness and to stand upon His abundant promises for the future. My God is so amazing, He cannot fail. CANNOT. It is against His nature! What He promises will come to pass, and His promises are good. I shared Restoration Day with my squad, and they joined with me and supported me fully in celebrating the Lord’s faithfulness, praying and prophesying over me and my family, loving me with hugs and notecards. My teammate Aubrie wrote in a note: “God is transforming your family. Healing is in His hands and all in His timing. God is faithful to fulfill His promises. He is not man that He should lie. Through restoration of your family God will bring restoration to others.”
I love my family and I love my God.
