Problems, when they persist or occur repeatedly, have a way of impressing themselves on our consciousness as the only realities we can have. However, nothing is farther from the truth than this. Where there are problems, there are also ample opportunities for solutions. Life is not a continuum of pains, challenges and problems. Where there are questions, there are also answers. Where there are sicknesses, there are also medicines and healings; and the list goes on. In the words of the scriptures, “But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:” – Romans 5:20.
Devastation and restoration are two realities. The former is a natural reality going by or resulting from the decay of the present system of this age. The latter is a possible spiritually enabled reality. Devastation describes the crisis of losses while restoration points to possibilities beyond losses.
Presently, the world is going through turbulence. There is devastation happening in alarming proportions and in many ramifications. People are perplexed and many are wondering if the world can ever recover from the losses she is experiencing right now. The word of the Lord I’m bringing to you in this discourse is not an attempt to excite you, raise your hope and assure you of an utopian recovery; rather, I want you to know whatever form of devastation you may have experienced or are experiencing right now, is one reality and not the only reality possible for you.
Jesus speaking in John 10:10 says, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal and to kill, and to destroy. I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.” This scripture points out a few things I want to draw your attention to. Firstly, there’s what the devil has done, is doing and wants to do on one hand; and there’s what God has done, is doing and wants to do on the other hand. Secondly, what the devil does is intended to take away from you what you already have but what God does is meant to multiply what you have and beyond that, enhance the very nature and quality of your life. Therefore, it is clear that the devil is the agent of devastation, he came to steal, kill and destroy. God on the other hand is the Source and Channel of restoration. Many in our world today have the tales of many losses. Some have lost their health, some others their money. Some have lost their positions, jobs, businesses or career. Some still have lost ministries and opportunities and so on. You may have had your unfair share of these realities and maybe are among many others who are wondering what next to do or whether life will ever be what they knew it to be before this wreckage?
Friend, your loss is what the enemy has done. However, beyond that, there is what God wants to do in you and for you. The deepest desire of God is to bring you restoration. The will of God is not only to give back to you what you lost but to do much more. To enjoy this much more kind of restoration, you need an attitude and understanding that is in sync with the mind of God. You need to understand restoration from a divine perspective that speaks more than its literal connotation.
Before we delve into this deeper understanding of restoration, let me share this scripture with you: Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things. Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength. Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month and the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed. Joel 2:21-27.
This scripture points both to the promise of God to bring about restoration and the attitude required of the people of God expecting restoration. The Lord admonishes against fear. This is very important because the power of the devil to keep us devastated subsist when he succeeds in keeping us in fear. Fear is the opposite of faith which is an attitude required to access God’s provision for restoration. God promises to restore the lost of many years and many degrees. In other words, it doesn’t make any different the extent of the devastation and for how long it has lasted, restoration is coming and will come big and make the difference. Expect it and believe for it. It’s another reality in the waiting that will make your loss like nothing and a huge blessing in disguise.
What is restoration?
Understanding restoration from its literal sense means to bring back to a former or original condition. It means the action of returning something to a former owner, place or condition. Taking it further, and considering it in relation to God, Restoration means God bringing back your lost glory. It means God causing you to recover those things you never thought you could get back again. It means God recreating your lost opportunities and settling you into your present place of success or greatness according to His original plan.
Divine restoration goes deeper and means more than bringing back to original. When God restores, He makes better, improves, increases and multiplies whatever you get after a loss. Divine restoration establishes the truth that loss is not permanent. And even beyond that, you can be better than you were before your loss experience. Whatever was lost can be found. Whatever was lost still exists in a realm. That it is not in your hands does not mean it does not exist. In restoration, God does not only reconnect you to that which was lost, but makes your restored state, richer, better and greater than it was before the loss. To see it in another way, whatever the enemy took from you, he actually invested for you as far as God is concerned. The reason is that according to God’s principle of restoration, the thief that is caught shall restore double, fivefold or even sevenfold whatever he stole, “If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep. If the theft be certainly found in his hand alive, whether it be ox, or ass, or sheep; he shall restore double. If a man shall deliver unto his neighbour money or stuff to keep, and it be stolen out of the man’s house; if the thief be found, let him pay double.” Exodus 22:1,4,7
“But [if] he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.” Proverbs 6:31:
Looking at the example of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, we can see the God-kind of restoration. They had suffered slavery for many generations, quite over four hundred years. When it was time for God to restore them and deliver them from bondage, He did not just give to them what the immediate generation had lost. In fact, their blessing at the exodus was the wealth of many generations put together and transferred to them. According to Exodus 12:36, “And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them [such things as they required]. And they spoiled the Egyptians.” God granted Israel so much favour before the Egyptians that they got whatever they asked for and carried the wealth of Egypt along. Some translations used words like, spoiled, plundered and stripped, to describe this wealth transfer restoration. In other words, God gave to this exodus generation, not only what they themselves had lost but also, what their slave masters had taken from their fathers and forefathers for many generations past. I like the way the Prophet Isaiah paints this picture. “And [they that shall be] of thee SHALL BUILD THE OLD WASTE PLACES: thou shalt RAISE UP THE FOUNDATIONS OF MANY GENERATIONS; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.”(emphasis mine)-Isaiah 58:12.
Friend, something bigger is coming for you. God has a plan for your life. That you’re alive is a proof that your loss is not final or permanent. There’s a more glorious and gracious life for you beyond your experience of loss. With this pandemic and its accompanying trail of devastation, the devil may have taken your health, money, job, business, career, position, opportunity and or ministry. I’m saying to you today, under God, that it’s not yet over for you. Don’t accept defeat. Believe change is coming and it will surely come. Restoration is God’s promise for you as a Believer. You can be restored if you will.