Episode 37: A Hopeful Reminder When You’re In A Hopeless Situation
We’ve all heard that God is a God who restores, but what does that mean? To “restore” is to give back something that was taken or lost. Biblically, the word restore refers to God giving something back to us, while the word restitution is us giving something back to someone we’ve taken from. When God restores, it’s a supernatural gift in supernatural proportion.
The prophet Joel describes the plight of the Israelites at a time in history when their crops are completely destroyed by locusts. Not only did the locust destroy the crops of the current year, but their devastation impacted future crops that would take years to redevelop. In essence, this loss had a domino effect.
Joel 2:25-27 states, “So I will restore to you the years the swarming locust has eaten…”
In this scripture, we see that God promises RESTORATION.
However, we need to beware of missing the restoration because it may not always come to us the way we expected it to. He may give back to us in ways we don’t recognize, expect, or even understand. The scripture makes it clear that the only prerequisite for restoration is to RETURN to God. We can’t be restored if we continue to move away from Him rather than toward Him.
Returning to God may look like:
Owning up to something we’re doing and changing our behavior.
Laying our need to be “right” down and accepting the need to be humble.
Showing up to hear from God, even when we feel bland or apathetic. (Hearing from God can be as simple as making a phrase or portion of scripture “ours” as we apply it. Or expecting God to speak through praise or our Bible reading, rather than thinking we won’t receive anything from the time.)
After we return to the Lord, Joel says God will REVIVE us. The Hebrew meaning for the word revive is “to bring back to life.” God will bring back to life the parts of our lives that are dead. No locust… (or sin, bad decision, indecision, apathy, fear, or distance) can keep us from the restoration of God. He restores the fruit of the years the enemy tries to take. Though we don’t get that time back, He can give us the fruit back.
Gutsy Faith Challenge:
1. What do you need to release so you can return to God?
2. Allow God to restore the broken places in your heart.
3. Get ready for God to bring revival and new life in the places that may feel lost.
Have thoughts or questions about today’s episode? Message us or leave a comment below.