restoration

Restoration.

What a weird word. We don't really have a great understanding of what it means. When was the last time you restored something? Typically, if something breaks or isn't working, we just purchase a new thing. Why work on restoring something when someone else can fix it for us? Why have to learn why that thing broke in the first place? Why waste our time in learning how it was supposed to work in the first place?

Scripture often talks about restoration of God's people, but maybe not in a way that we think.

The Greek word for restoration is "Katartizo", which when literally translated, means "the setting of a bone"

Ouch. When was the last time you heard someone say "It felt great to get that broken bone set". The one time in my life that I have broken a bone and got it set, I let out a yell that would make your local opera singer blush with envy, and that was just my finger.

That word drives home a better understanding of what God does when he restores. He literally sets in place something in our lives that was broken, and often times, that's going to hurt.

God is merciful. God is Love. Don't get me wrong in that. However, when we are so attached to something in our lives that is harmful to our soul, it is going to literally (and maybe even physically) hurt when it is removed. How many times have you met someone struggling with an alcohol or tobacco addiction claim that it's easy to quit? How many people do you know have stopped committing their habitual sin or unhealthy habits at the drop of a dime?

Though our culture would claim that we should avoid pain and suffering in order to maximize pleasure, God would say otherwise. Suffering is a vehicle for holiness. I'm not saying that we should purposefully walk around breaking each others arms and claiming that it's "for the kingdom", but when we avoid suffering, we may be running away from a means of holiness in our lives. It is precisely then that our suffering becomes redemptive and we become sanctified.

God doesn't restore aspects of our lives in order to punish us, but rather to take away those things which would step in between Him and our heart. There's nothing He desires more than us, but sadly, we can't often make the same claim. When restoration begins in our lives, we are fundamentally changed. We are changed for a purpose. Externally we look the same, but something is different internally.

Peter uses this word "restoration" when referring to being restored or equipped for a purpose or work. When God restores His people, He does it holistically and in time, but also so that they will be fruitful. We are called to be a part of the restoration of the kingdom, but not on our own. For the most part, what we think we need isn't really what we need. The Father knows all our needs better than we do, the Son shows us the way to the Father, and the Spirit equips us to to move deeper and closer to the Father's heart; all to achieve a better understanding of need and want. What we want is temporary. What we need is eternal.

When we deny the fact that we are in desperate need of restoration, we effectively turn away from God using us in His plan for restoration of ourselves, and His kingdom. If we deny the fact that we need restoration, we deny the fact that we need a God. In a sense, we are trying to set a bone that has broken without having any knowledge of how to. If I go to a doctor who sets my bone the wrong way, chances are I'm not going to go back to Him. Furthermore, if I am surrounded by bad doctors and find a perfect one, I'm going to tell everyone I know the way to find Him. Once we begin to live in this restoration, we have no other choice than to spread the fact that we weren't aren't able to restore anything on our own but we know who can.

The funny thing is this: we aren't something that needs to be replaced or discarded, but sanctified. We are made in His image and likeness, and that gives us a special dignity that can't be taken away or ignored. In acknowledging this, we begin to see our restoration more fully as we become One with the eternal, thus mirroring who He is to the world. In allowing the Father to restore us, we learn why He wants to restore us, and what He restores us for, both temporally and eternally.

How is God restoring you today? What purpose do you think He is restoring you for?