How God Restores Us
How does God heal our wounds from a broken home? The same way he heals everything, by redeeming it and restoring us from the inside out.
Let God do His work. He will faithfully heal our wounds and renew our hope if we trust Him to meet our deepest needs. He transforms brokenness into blessing. Through Christ, our wounds are healed.
Isaiah 61:1-11 ESV / 29
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.
A reflection was shared in an article titled Good News for the Poor.
What would sound like good news to the poor?
A promise of safety and security?
Freedom from oppression?
Being accepted regardless of status?
Knowing that you are actually seen and loved?
Jesus quotes Isaiah's vision. In spite of oppression and exile, the people of Israel longed for abundance and peace. Someone with the "Spirit of the Lord" would be able to set them free. In proclaiming that Jesus has fulfilled the vision in their hearing, he is announcing that he is the one who will set them free.
God has seen them, He knows them, and He accepts them just as they are. That is Jesus' good news to the poor. Even if God meets their needs, He will not abandon them.
Christ comes into our world to proclaim good news to us in our material, emotional, and spiritual longings. It is the same message he delivered 2000 years ago and today.
God Restores And Makes Abundant
An old article written by Charlyne Steinkamp, described how God restores. According to her, restoration is always abundant in the Bible. The result of restoring something is always better than it was originally. God has promised us that he will provide a better life, a better future for ourselves and those we love.
God will take what is broken and put it back together to make it better than it used to be. Through his love, he will reunite the shattered pieces of our lives, putting strength where there was once weakness.
Job's story demonstrates God's abundance in restoration. Seeing a good and righteous man bewildered at what had happened to him, it was hard to believe that he had lost everything. Despite all these hardships, Job remained faithful to God. "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him," Job 13:15.
In addition to restoring Job's fortunes, the Lord also restored them abundantly. It is God's promise that what was lost will be abundantly restored. Read more in this article.
Healing Contrite Spirits
Psalm 34:18 ESV “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.“
Two major characters are mentioned in the verse – God, and mankind's crushed souls or contrite hearts. When one's spirit is crushed, his spirit pales in comparison. He has nothing to fight for anymore. One who is contrite has a sense of guilt and a strong desire for atonement; one who is penitent.
God is close to those whose hearts, feelings, or emotions have been broken, according to the verse. They are hurting emotionally. God stands at the door of our hurting heart and knocks to come in, but we still have to receive his invitation and open the door to him in order to receive that healing. The person who is willing to turn from trusting in their own power and and instead desires to be rescued by God, will be rescued. If a loved one dies, or if one has a serious illness, or if one loses a job or if a relationship goes sour, if we would like God to make us whole the verse tells us that we must be reborn. We must partake of the living water that will never leave us thirsty; which is the love of God. We must feed on the mannah from heaven; which is the word of life and we must choose life. Check Darron E. Franklin's blog here.
“I stand at the door and knock if any man hears my voice and opens the door I will come in and eat with him”
Restoration is God’s Mission
To further give insights, God wants us to know Him and feel His presence when life is hard. Psalm 34:18 reminds us that God is not only present with us, but also near us. Close to our pain. Close to our loss. Close to the needs we don't know how to express. It is God who gives us the courage to breathe again.
The following verses help to feel close to God because God understands how it feels to be crushed: Proverbs 18:14, Proverbs 17:22 and Proverbs 15:13. All by himself at the Garden of Gethsemane, he prepared to suffer and die for us. Jesus understands the pain. When you feel emptied out and dried up, it's likely that you have nothing left to give. Let yourself receive.
The great love of God for each of us rescues us from great pain and a weakened spirit. When we are distraught, He offers to fill up those empty spaces in our hearts. He loves us and gives us the gift of His presence, which helps us to move forward with peace in our hearts. To learn more about hope and comfort click here.
Uplifting Prayers
We should not take our lives for granted since they are a precious gift from God. We should turn to God when issues do arise and ask for His healing hands to guide us. In our darkest days, when there seems to be no hope, praying to God is a powerful way to lift our spirits. Here’s one of the prayers in an article in Connect Us.
Prayer for Healing
Lord our Redeemer, we thank You that by Your stripes we are healed, and now we ask You to look over our family and heal our brokenness. Help each of us to take responsibility to right the wrongs we have caused and move forward in healing. Help us to humble ourselves and confess our sins to one another and to You so that we can receive healing. You alone are our help. Amen.
Click here for more powerful prayers.
Christ didn't die in order for us to stay broken. Through his stripes we are healed. Jesus died to make us whole. Our loving God doesn't want us broken; he wants us whole, healed, comforted. It means not being dependent on our own power but on God's. A “broken and contrite spirit” in Bible times meant “humble and trusting in God rather than oneself”.Are you in need of restoration? humble yourself before God, let him bring you under the protection of his wings and He will do the rest.