He is a God of Restoration Part 1
“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten — the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm — my great army that I sent among you. Joel 2:25
Whatever life has taken from you, God can restore. He may not give you exactly what you want, but He will give you what is best. Even when you fall under His corrective hand through disobedience, if you repent, He will reinstate you to a place of blessing. You say, ‘But what about the time I’ve wasted, the opportunities I’ve squandered, and the mess I’ve made of my life? Sometimes I wonder if I’ve fallen so low that even God cannot reach me.’ No, there’s hope for you. The Bible says, ‘Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear’ (Isaiah 59:1). After wasting all that he’d inherited from his father, the Prodigal Son returned home, penniless and embarrassed. All he wanted was three square meals and a job in the servants’ quarters. But the moment he said, ‘Forgive me,’ his father called for the best robe, the fattest cow, the newest shoes, and a ring of son-ship restoring him to his rightful place as a member of the family. Even under the crushing weight of the Old Testament law, with demands that no one could live up to, God said, ‘If a man steals an ox or a sheep…he shall restore five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep’ (Exodus 22:1). Now if God would do that for those who lived under the law and on the wrong side of the cross, how much more will He do for those He has redeemed? So you can go to Him today with confidence, knowing He’s a God of restoration.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for restoring me – time after time – so that I can continue to go forward and serve You by serving others. In Jesus’ Name, Amen
Tim: As I look at the Parable of the Lost Son, he never gets the words “forgive me” out. His father sees him, he states he has sinned and does not deserve to be called his son, and then is restored. We, too, are restored by grace.