God Restores!

Your builders outdo your destroyers, and those who laid you waste go away from you… Surely your waste and your desolate places and your devastated land-surely now you will be too crowded for your inhabitants, and those who swallowed you up will be far away. Isaiah 49: 17, 19, NRSV.

Gracious God, You who delight in restoring the things that the destroyers have taken away; please make Your will plain to us as we study Your Word.  In the name of Jesus we pray.  Amen.

I “happened upon” this text.  I did not go in search of it.  But I could not get beyond it without reading it over, and over, several times.  As I went two texts further, the thought seemed to find continuation in verse 19; so I decided to make it a part of our devotional for today.

“Your builders outdo your destroyers…“  How wonderful is that!  God’s work of restoration outdoes the enemy’s work of destruction!  God’s creatures are so important to Him, that He personally oversees us; and does a twofold act of restoration for every single act of destruction!  If you are observant, you will notice that I am trying to capture in words an act of divinity!  It is a feat that challenges every fiber of my being!

When you and I believe that we have come to the end of an excruciating experience; a loss that we consider irreparable, and we find it hard to go forward; it would be comforting to know, that God has already begun the process of restoration.  That process could take various forms; and it may not seem immediate, according to our calculation of time; but rest assured, that in God’s perfect timing, you will be well pleased when you experience the restoration!  It will not be a split second too late.  It will be at just the right time!  Let us look at some of the situations where we might be seeking restoration.

A personal relationship.  Maybe you just broke up with the person you thought you were going to spend the rest of your life with.  In your estimation, this was your soulmate.  As far as you are concerned, the sun will never shine again; the stars have disappeared from your sky.  There are only cloudy skies ahead for you.  But if you were aware that God had already started the process of replacing your loss, what a difference it would make!  Instead of representing the end of the world, you could look at this experience as a period of transition; a time of growth, preparing you for better things to come!

Better could mean someone more suitable to be your soulmate.  It could also mean, the same person, better equipped at some other time, for an improved relationship between the two of you.  Better could also mean, that you have learned your real worth; and you are no longer dependent on an individual to bring you the feeling of completion that you seek.  This period of transition may have provided you with the time you needed to grow in your personal relationship with Christ; and you now know, that you are complete in Him! 

The situation that had swallowed you up, will cease to exist!  It has been removed far away from you, in order that your eyes may be opened.  You will begin to see things through clearer lenses!  Sometimes you have to get far away from a relationship to rightly evaluate it.  Up close, it is all you can see; you begin to believe that it is all you have.  When that happens, it has become too powerful.  So oftentimes, God in His infinite mercy and love, provides us with a “time-out,” to enhance our spiritual eyesight, and increase our ability to rightly evaluate the situation.  Take advantage of these moments to spend some time just resting in His arms of love!

Tomorrow we will look at some other situations.

NOTE:  These considerations have been developed entirely from a spiritual, not a clinical, perspective.