Do you admire classic cars? I especially like the 1950s cars. Some of them that have been restored look just like they did when they came out of the factory in the 50s. It is amazing how someone can take an old metal car body that has been sitting and wasting away for years and turn it into something beautiful and functional again. Restoration is sometimes a long process that requires a lot of time and patience.
Sometimes our lives can feel like one of these 1950s classic cars. We were born and had a good life. Most of us were healthy. We got older and played with our childhood friends and didn't have a worry in the world. Life was beautiful, just like the classic car when it came out of the showroom. Later in life, relationships, parenting, and jobs came. Life became a lot more complicated. Then it happened. Everything seemed to go wrong all at once. Maybe health issues struck, financial hardship set in, or relationships became rocky. These things sucked all the joy out of life and left you feeling empty, just like the shell of the formerly glorious 1950s classic car. The good news is that you too can be restored, just like that car can be!!!
Take a look at Job in the Bible. If there was ever someone who had everything stripped away from him, it was Job. He lost his health, his wealth, and all of his children. Most of this all happened on the same day. Think about how it would feel if all of that happened to you in one day. Job did survive this test and was rewarded with double the wealth at the end of it all. The Bible says in Job 42:10, "After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes, and gave him twice as much as he had before." Job had to suffer and wait for a while on the ash heap, but God came through and restored to him two-fold!
Sometimes the waiting part of the restoration process is the hardest. I am writing this from personal experience. When you ask God for help for years, you start to grow weary when you don't always see His hand working out the situation. God has given a beautiful promise that helps me in Joel 2:25, "And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you." God has promised to give me back everything that was lost in those years! I just have to trust His timing.
There are many wonderful promises of restoration to us in the Bible. Psalm 71:20-21 reads, "Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. You will increase my honor and comfort me once more." Another great verse is 1 Peter 5:10, "And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast."
Jeremiah 30:17 reminds us that God will restore our health by saying, "But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,’ declares the LORD, ‘because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.’" Even if you feel that no one cares, God does care and promises to restore your health.
Zechariah 9:12 states, "Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you." God is our fortress that we run to in times of trouble. God is unlimited in the blessings that He can bestow upon our lives--He doesn't only have to give us what we lost. He can give us more or something better than we had to start with!
In the famous Psalm 23, David wrote, "He restoreth my soul." God can renew our body, our joy, our soul, or anything that we need to be restored!
Do not be dismayed beloved child of God! He will restore to you what you have need of!
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