Parched & Pensive: Restoration
Posted on December 12, 2019
The Definition of Restoration is restitution of something taken away or lost; a return of something to a former, original, normal, or unimpaired condition. The Revival, the Healing, the Recovery, the Rehabilitation, the Renewal.
I was upset that RenovationFamily was taken when I initially started this journey 6, nearly 7 years ago-I thought that Restoration wasn’t what we were doing because the house itself was not in disrepair. Little did I understand that God was going to use it-this house-this family-this life. He is in the Restoration business.
Deuteronomy 31:8 tells us, The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
As soon as Job hears of all the disaster that has come to him and his family he immediately falls to the ground in worship. Later Elihu is reminding him of how powerful and mighty God is in Chapter 36 verses 24-25 he says, “Remember to thank him for what he’s done. People have praised him with their songs. Every human being has seen his work. People can see it from far away.” the MSG version writes it like this: “Remember, then, to praise his workmanship, which is so often celebrated in song.”
How do we worship before the rewards? How do we show thanks before the giving?
This house was good and solid. I thought our family was too. We had been through some hard seasons. This house came on the days after a high risk pregnancy miscarriage. Working and hoping in it was suppose to restore our family and my soul-it was going to give me something to focus on so I didn’t notice my empty womb. This move to this town was a fresh start after a heart wrenching marital season. This new house was a way to escape the sad memories in the old one-where our firstborn suffered and recovered from surgery during a painful season of internal catastrophe his kindergarten year. We had victory over all this. We had triumphed. This house was our golden reward.
We had so many dreams and wishes for it. We had never been settled for longer than a couple years anywhere so when we uprooted after four long years we weren’t positive our time frame in the new one. Sure we will just fix some cosmetic things that looked old and dated. There was so much space we didn’t need to get crazy.
Of course things got crazy. The kitchen was ill designed and was wasting good square footage on an unnecessary hallway. Quick before we move in. The powder room also had a too large sink and made it cramped-upgrade it to modern amenities. A year and half later the bathroom upstairs broke and caused us to rethink the whole space since we had come to realize the hall bath wasn’t easy to use in its original design.
We had all the right components for a good solid house-4 bedrooms, corner lot, 2.5 bathrooms, huge basement, fireplace, sunroom, front porch.
Its hard to enjoy them if they aren’t working. Until they are renovated we can’t use them. So can we be grateful for something before we have it?
This season I joined the online bible study for Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts. She has a similar soul search with the word “Eucharisteo.” Reminding me how Jesus broke bread and gave thanks for it. How Jesus broke himself and gave thanks to God for being able to save…me.
How can we prevent the need for restoration in our relationships? We can’t. We are broken because the world it broken. We are fallen since THE FALL in Eden. So if we walk around thinking we have it together and our lives are cured, healed, altered because we are Christians, or we go to Church or we say some Prayers, then we are confused at the concepts.
The opposite of Restoration is Destruction…Neglect. If we aren’t constantly RE-storing then we are DE-stroying. We are neglecting our relationships if we are not constantly RENEWING them.
Paul reiterates when we are IN Christ then we are a new creation. “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 2 Corinthians 5:17
If we are a NEW creation, a NEW thing, a NEW person. Then we are like a brand new house-we don’t need restoring. But with a brand new build if we don’t maintain then it falls into neglect. With a marriage or family then it probably takes more than one person to keep up the maintenance.
We need to constantly be RE-newing our minds, RE-newing our hearts and RE-newing our words. RE-NEW. New again.
When you RE-STORE it you put it back how it was. We weren’t going to RESTORE this house to its 60s glory because other than the outside paint job (I found avocado green trim) then it was still in its’ original new creation. I wanted to RENOVATE and REMODEL this house to a home for us.
God promises to RESTORE things back to better than before. (Joel 2:25 “I’ll make up for the years of the locust, the great locust devastation – Locusts savage, locusts deadly, fierce locusts, locusts of doom, That great locust invasion I sent your way.”MSG)
God’s plans are bigger and better than we could imagine. (Isaiah 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. NIV)
He promises RESTORATION, He is a good God. He is a true God and a faithful God. He is everlasting.
We can go through this house and name all the ways its has changed and grown and you can visually see the updates. We can show you pictures of how it used to be. We can continue to dream of ways to improve it and paint it to fit our needs as we grow.
I want God to do that with my heart. I want him to continue to improve and mold me into the dream he created in the beginning. He is the builder and I will constantly be a new creation if I can stay in Him.
How do we find hope and happiness in the darkness? How do we eucharisteo in the emptiness and abandonments of our soul?
How do we muddle through the rest of his REstoration until it is done? (I can go on an on here with this word)
When will it be done? (Thats kinda the point of “Never finished”!)
REST in the RESToration…hmmm. Ill have to ponder that.
I’ll leave you with this verse too: Not for our sake, God, no, not for our sake, but for your name’s sake, show your glory. Do it on account of your merciful love, do it on account of your faithful ways. Psalm 115:1 MSG