Wherever God restores something, He restores it to a place greater than it was before.— Bill Johnson
There are many who look back on their lives and have so many regrets because of wasted years, lost investments, broken relationships, poor decisions, conflicts, droughts, famines, health issues, catastrophes and the likes. The dominant question on many minds is, 'Can God restore what I have lost? Can He even in scenarios where I am without blame for the losses suffered?' As I pondered these issues, the story of Naomi came to mind.
Naomi witnessed firsthand a brutal famine in her home country. There must have a looming prospect of loss of crops, livestock and human lives in that season. So, her family left Bethlehem to seek greener pastures in another country, Moab, leaving behind friends, family and all she had known and grown to see. Unfortunately, ten years later, Naomi lost everything in a foreign land - her husband, her two adult sons and possibly the wealth they had saved and invested to settle there. Such devastating loss to one person in one period was a big blow, and one could understand her plea to be called Mara (bitter) instead of Naomi (pleasant). She had gone away full, but she was returning home empty.
Truth is, we still encounter similar stories in our days - heartbreaking reports of death, debilitating medical conditions, businesses gone bad, unexpected breakdown of relationships. And we often wonder, how can God restore such losses? Will He bring back the deceased loved ones to life or afford the exact same opportunities that were lost? But as we review different scriptural accounts, we will see that restoration may not mean that God will give the same thing we lost back. But, He has a way of repositioning us for His original intentions for our lives in spite of our losses.
In the first chapter of Joel, the prophet calls the people to mourn over a season of severe destruction. With the imagery of the destructive impact of vast armies of locusts on this farming society, he recounts the widespread losses experienced in the nation of Israel. There remained no hope of life in the parched grounds, failed crops, empty barns, consumed pastures, lean animals and dried streams around them. Yet, in the next chapter, he paints another picture of hope, indicating some light at the end of the tunnel.
Is it not interesting that God was not restoring the crops or vine lost but the years of destruction? Meaning, He was giving back to them the ability to do more to recover what they lost previously. For this farming community, God was providing them a conducive environment - with former and latter rains - and seed for a supernatural harvest that will make up for their past losses. For us too, God is going to give us divine ability to reclaim, repair and reinstate in a relatively shorter time what we have lost in former years.
There are times that God cannot restore the same thing lost but know for sure that whatever He gives you will be more than what you lost. We may not see our deceased loved ones raised on this side of life as Job's account teaches us. Job's sons and daughters who passed away were not resuscitated but He was blessed with other children at the end of his life. And we know, that on account of Christ's resurrection, his first set of children would be reconciled to him on the other side of life.
The people of Israel knew who they had been called to be - a chosen people of God. They knew God, the Creator, had the power to turn situations around when they believed. When they mourned before God for their sins with fasts and prayers, they also petitioned Him on the basis of His promises and past records. They praised Him with the testimonies of past deliverance and restorations in the days of their fathers. They had read and heard of global restoration as in the days of Noah (Genesis 8); national restoration in the Exodus from Egypt, during the famine of Samaria (2 Kings 7) and the return of the captives from Babylon (Psalm 126); as well as personal or family restorations like Job and Naomi's.
As we too have been seeking God on this 40-day journey, we must position ourselves for His restoration. If our hearts are turned away from our wicked ways in repentance and set on Him, then we can expect His promise in the prophecy below to unfold in our lives. Meditate on it and believe God for personal, family, communal, national and global restorations.