Day 24: Restore Us

photo by Gaelle Marcel

Read:

Lamentations 5:21- “Lord, restore us to Yourself, so we may return; renew our days . . .”

2 Peter 5:10 – “Now the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will personally restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little.”

Lamentations 3:22-24 – “Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness! I say: The Lord is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in Him.”

Understand:

  1. What four things, specifically, does 2 Peter 5:10 say that God will do for us after we have suffered a little?
  2. Why do we not perish?
  3. Who do we put our hope in?

Listen: We talked yesterday about how God, like a momma bear, will come barreling to our rescue when we cry out to Him for help. We are His children and He will sweep in, just like a parent does, and help us when we are hurting or are in need. I hope we can all remember that as we face various trials in this life. But, I also want to point out that when God sweeps in and saves us, He is also going to nurture us while our wounds heal but then He is going to stand us on our feet and restore us so we can continue to make a difference in this world for His kingdom.

For those of you who know me, you know that within the last year and half my family and I lost both my mother and my mother-in-law. There have been days when I felt like I had not only been knocked down but that someone was kicking me while I was down. Even though I know both of them are celebrating with Jesus in heaven, I still miss them terribly and have had to deal with the grief of loss. There have been many times when I called out to God to help me and He has reached down, took hold of me, and walked me through the healing process. He has bandaged my wounds and given me time to heal but, He is now standing me back up on my feet so I can continue to serve Him and help others. He is restoring me.

This past Sunday, Pastor Matt Keller from Next Level Church, was teaching on “The Comeback Posture.” Essentially, he was explaining that when we go through trials that there is a time when we need to be ready to come back to making a difference for Christ. He gave four things that should be a part of this:

  1. Show humility (allow God to meet you where you are)
  2. Show fight (fight the battle that needs to be fought)
  3. Show grace (remember we aren’t of this world, show grace to others)
  4. Show honor (show respect to everyone)

God will rescue us. God will tend to our wounds. God will give us time to heal. God will restore us so we can continue to do good things for His kingdom. Don’t forget that last part: He will restore us so we can continue. Lamentations 5:21 says “Lord, restore us to Yourself, so we may return . . .” Restore us so we can come back and do what God needs us to do. 2 Peter 5:10 gives us a promise and says that “God . . . will personally restore, establish, strengthen, and support you . . .” He is with us. He hears our cry for help and will rescue us but remember, He is also going to restore you and you will be better than you were before: stronger. This is for your comeback.

I have to include one of the last things Pastor Matt Keller said on Sunday. Let this sink in. Read and re-read it as you consider the trials in your life. He encouraged us to know that “What look[ed] like your worst day(s) are setup for the best days to come.”

Pray: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the message that others give us that comes through loud and clear. Help us to listen, really listen, so that we may benefit from Your promises and know that when You restore us, we are stronger than we ever were. Help us do great things for Your glory. In Jesus name we pray, amen.