Restoration
By David Wheeler
Introduction
Zechariah 10:1 Ask rain from the LORD in the season
of the spring rain, from the LORD who makes the storm clouds, and he will give
them showers of rain, to everyone the vegetation in the field.
Over the past three to four weeks I have sensed that
we were in a season of restoration. God is all about restoring those good
things that have been lost in our lives. Restoration is the returning of things
once possessed. God’s activity in the earth today should encourage us that He
is God! And God is still active and knows the outcome. Restoration is
manifesting itself in several different ways.
Restoring of Relationships
2 Corinthians 13:11 Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim
for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace;
and the God of love and peace will be with you.
One manifestation is the restoring of relationships.
Some of these relationships are long lost friendships. Some are broken or
strained family relationships. In either case, God wants to restore and bring
to wholeness these relationships in our lives. Many of these relationships are
being restored not because there was a problem, but you have simply lost touch
with one another. I encourage you to reach out to those where relationships
have been strained or lost and allow God’s restoring work to happen. Allow the
Holy Spirit to help you recall relationships that have simply faded and believe
for opportunities of restoration. Have you been “holding” on for a prodigal to
come home? Well, this is the season of Restoration!
Restoring Prosperity
Zechariah 9:12 says
"Return to the stronghold (of security and
prosperity), you prisoners of hope; even today do I declare that I will restore
double your former prosperity to you."
Another manifestation is the restoring of
prosperity. Prosperity is more than finances. Prosperity is health, happiness,
and peace in our lives. Many have slipped into worry and doubt about God and
His ability to keep us and provide health, happiness and peace. His hand is not
too short. He is still in the miracle working business. Don’t lean to your own
understanding, but find yourself in His understanding. Prosperity is also about
finances. I believe that God will begin to show Himself in our lives in this
area if we dare to trust Him. Be ready to sell or rent property. Be ready to
receive pay raises or even get a new job. Focus every loss on what God can
restore. Our faith in Him cannot waver, but must remain steadfast. Trust Him
completely.
Isaiah 49
1Listen to me) O coastlands,
and give attention, you peoples) from afar.
The LORD called me from the womb,
from the body of my mother he named my name.
2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword;
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow;
in his quiver he hid me away.
3And he said to me, "You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified."
4 But I said, "I have labored in vain;
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my right is with the LORD,
and my recompense with my God."
5 And now the LORD says,
he who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him;
and that Israel might be gathered to him—
for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD,
and my God has become my strength—
6he says:"It is too light a thing that you
should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
I will make you as a light for the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the
earth."
7Thus says the LORD,
the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation,
the servant of rulers:
"Kings shall see and arise;
princes, and they shall prostrate themselves;
because of the LORD, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you."
8Thus says the LORD: "In a time of favor I have
answered you;
in a day of salvation I have helped you;
I will keep you and give you
as a covenant to the people,
to establish the land,
to apportion the desolate heritages,
9 saying to the prisoners, 'Come out,'
to those who are in darkness, 'Appear.'
They shall feed along the ways;
on all bare heights shall be their pasture;
10 they shall not hunger or thirst,
neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them,
for he who has pity on them will lead them,
and by springs of water will guide them.
11 And I will make all my mountains a road,
and my highways shall be raised up.
12 Behold, these shall come from afar,
and behold, these from the north and from the west,
and these from the land of Syene."
13 Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the LORD has comforted his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted.
14But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me;
my Lord has forgotten me."
15 "Can a woman forget her nursing child,
that she should have no compassion on the son of her
womb?
Even these may forget,
yet I will not forget you.
16Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my
hands;
your walls are continually before me.
17Your builders make haste;
your destroyers and those who laid you waste go out
from you.
18 Lift up your eyes around and see;
they all gather, they come to you.
As I live, declares the LORD,
you shall put them all on as an ornament;
you shall bind them on as a bride does.
19"Surely your waste and your desolate places
and your devastated land—
surely now you will be too narrow for your
inhabitants,
and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20 The children of your bereavement
will yet say in your ears:
'The place is too narrow for me;
make room for me to dwell in.'
21Then you will say in your heart:
'Who has borne me these?
I was bereaved and barren,
exiled and put away,
but who has brought up these?
Behold, I was left alone;
from where have these come?'"
22Thus says the Lord GOD:"Behold, I will lift
up my hand to the nations,
and raise my signal to the peoples;
and they shall bring your sons in their bosom,
and your daughters shall be carried on their
shoulders.
23 Kings shall be your foster fathers,
and their queens your nursing mothers.
With their faces to the ground they shall bow down
to you,
and lick the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am the LORD;
those who wait for me shall not be put to
shame."
24Can the prey be taken from the mighty,
or the captives of a tyrant be rescued?
25For thus says the LORD: "Even the captives of
the mighty shall be taken,
and the prey of the tyrant be rescued,
for I will contend with those who contend with you,
and I will save your children.
26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,
and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with
wine.
Then all flesh shall know
that I am the LORD your Savior,
and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."
The Hope of Restoration
I believe that during this season of restoration we
will begin to see the Church thrive. God is gathering the sheep. Congregations
will begin to grow. There will be some shifting of sheep among the individual
churches. Where members have drifted away in the past, they will return. God is
wooing those sheep that have drifted away from their primary pasture of
service. He is wooing them to return to the shepherd they have been called to
serve and follow. Those Christians who have lost their way in their journey
with God will sense the need to return as well. Be ready to welcome them all.
Allow God’s restorative power through love and acceptance to bring the church
to wholeness.
2 Corinthians 5: 16-21 16From now on, therefore, we
regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ
according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is
in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has
come. 18All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and
gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19that is, in Christ God was
reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them,
and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20Therefore, we are
ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on
behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin
who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Lastly, I believe we will begin to see the real work
of restoration begin to be poured out in winning the lost. Some have prayed for
years or even given up on the lost. This is a season of restoration. God is all
about restoring relationship with those who have not trusted Him in the past.
Reach out of your places of comfort and welcome those who are searching!
Welcome them in your home, your lunch times, and your schedules. Make room for
the lost. Make room for them to find hope and healing! God’s restorative work
is being released in the earth. This can be the greatest season of restoration
if we will be diligent about serving, loving and caring for people. It is not
about growing a church, but it is all about leading people to be a part of the
Kingdom of God! Be watchful of those around you and be ready to respond to
their needs.
Isaiah 54
1SING, O barren one, you who did not bear; break
forth into singing and cry aloud, you who did not travail with child! For the
[spiritual] children of the desolate one will be more than the children of the
married wife, says the Lord.
2Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the
curtains of your habitations be stretched out; spare not; lengthen your cords
and strengthen your stakes,
3For you will spread abroad to the right hand and to
the left; and your offspring will possess the nations and make the desolate
cities to be inhabited.
4Fear not, for you shall not be ashamed; neither be
confounded and depressed, for you shall not be put to shame. For you shall
forget the shame of your youth, and you shall not [seriously] remember the
reproach of your widowhood any more.
5For your Maker is your Husband--the Lord of hosts
is His name--and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; the God of the whole
earth He is called.
6For the Lord has called you like a woman forsaken,
grieved in spirit, and heartsore--even a wife [wooed and won] in youth, when
she is [later] refused and scorned, says your God.
7For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great
compassion and mercy I will gather you [to Me] again.
8In a little burst of wrath I hid My face from you
for a moment, but with age-enduring love and kindness I will have compassion
and mercy on you, says the Lord, your Redeemer.
9For this is like the days of Noah to Me; as I swore
that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that
I will not be angry with you or rebuke you.
10For though the mountains should depart and the
hills be shaken or removed, yet My love and kindness shall not depart from you,
nor shall My covenant of peace and completeness be removed, says the Lord, Who
has compassion on you.
11O you afflicted [city], storm-tossed and not
comforted, behold, I will set your stones in fair colors [in antimony to
enhance their brilliance] and lay your foundations with sapphires.
12And I will make your windows and pinnacles of
[sparkling] agates or rubies, and your gates of [shining] carbuncles, and all
your walls [of your enclosures] of precious stones.
13And all your [spiritual] children shall be
disciples [taught by the Lord and obedient to His will], and great shall be the
peace and undisturbed composure of your children.
14You shall establish yourself in righteousness
(rightness, in conformity with God's will and order): you shall be far from
even the thought of oppression or destruction, for you shall not fear, and from
terror, for it shall not come near you.
15Behold, they may gather together and stir up
strife, but it is not from Me. Whoever stirs up strife against you shall fall
and surrender to you.
16Behold, I have created the smith who blows on the
fire of coals and who produces a weapon for its purpose; and I have created the
devastator to destroy.
17But no weapon that is formed against you shall
prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall
show to be in the wrong. This [peace, righteousness, security, triumph over
opposition] is the heritage of the servants of the Lord [those in whom the
ideal Servant of the Lord is reproduced]; this is the righteousness or the
vindication which they obtain from Me [this is that which I impart to them as
their justification], says the Lord.
