Failure among God’s people is nothing new. Biblical history is plagued with it. Samson, Abraham, Solomon, Jonah, the Hebrews, all twelve of the disciples of Jesus, and King David (a man in love with God) all failed. All of these people committed willful disobedient sin, aiding and abetting the enemy after having once pledged faithfulness to God. In both the Old and New Testament, their proof of failure is both overwhelming.
Equally overwhelming is the evidence that God is in the restoration business. Throughout the Bible is the astonishing record of the God’s effort to restore those who are eternally His, but who in a moment of weakness betrayed their initial loyalty. There are common threads that indicate restoration. These threads have the potential of releasing the backslidden from their bondage, and restoring them to employment in His kingdom.
Restoration is more than mending broken hearts and bringing a person back to their former condition of faithfulness. It is restoring spiritually injured Christians into productive service for the glory of God. Restoration is not only possible, it is encouraged. In the biblical stories, not all who went astray were restored to the God. What separates the restored from the condemned? 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NLT) gives the answer with this four-step process:
“Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”
Humble-To
start the restoration process you must first recognize your emptiness before
God. You have no approval before God. You are both guilty and unworthy to be in
God’s presence. God is everything to you.
Pray-Prayer
is an act of humility. Prayer is not presenting God with a list of desires. God
does care about your needs and wants you to give Him what concerns you. The
primary purpose of prayer is to prepare you to perform the perfect will of God.
After you humble yourself before God, you then seek to discover His will for your
life through prayer.
Fellowship-To
seek God’s approval is to live in His presence as you fellowship with Him.
Prayer is the doorway through which you enter into communion with God continually.
To fellowship with God is to live one’s life every second as if serving before
God’s throne in Heaven.
It
is to be in constant dialogue with God. It is to be intimate with God as you talk
to Him in prayer. To seek for God is to walk with Him in such close fellowship
that the line between earth and Heaven becomes blurred. God wants to lead you
from humility into prayer; and from prayer into fellowship with Him.
Repentance-Repentance
is turning from your “wicked” ways. Repentance is the offspring of fellowship.
God intends to bring you from humility into prayer, from prayer into fellowship
with God, and fellowship gives birth to repentance, a change in one’s mindset towards
God.
God is saying to
you, “I’m going to repay you for the years the enemy has stolen, years you
spent lonely, years you spent mistreated. You are going to have plenty of joy,
plenty of peace, plenty resources, and plenty of opportunities. Amen. (Joel Olsteen)[i]
[i] Sources used:
·
“A Process for Biblical Restoration and Healing” by
Gantt Street Baptist Church
·
“Four Steps for Spiritual Restoration” by reflectionsintheword
·
“Restoration” by Merriam-Webster
Inspired by the sermon
“Restoration: Threads” (installment five) Sunday March 29, 2020, Josh Boyer,
interim pastor for CenterPoint Church Lewis Center (All CenterPoint churches
are closed due to the Coronavirus.)
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