Bible Reading: Jeremiah 30, 31: Philemon
“For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seekest after” Jeremiah 30:17 (KJV)
Our God is great at the restoration of men seeing that He operates at the realm of all possibilities. He is not limited in His abilities, and because time and seasons are with Him, He can comfortably reverse any negative tide affecting man. Our scriptural reading of today from Jeremiah is a prophetic narration of God’s dealing with Israel as a nation. Israel sinned and rebelled against God and was handed over to the Gentile nations as chastisement for their sin. However, God, in His love and mercy, began to respond to the cry of anguish from Israel in captivity, “Why criest thou for thy affliction? thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee” Jeremiah 30:15 (KJV). God in His love for His people began to declare restoration to them in all aspect of life; In verse 16 He promise them His vengeance against their adversaries, In verse 17 He promised them restoration of health, in verse 18 the Lord promised to bring them back to their dwelling place and rebuilding of the city and palace, in verse 19 God promised to restore joy and multiplication of their depleted population. God also promise to deal with their oppressors.
The characteristic of God can be seen clearly in His dealing with His people. He is slow to anger but swift to bless. God restores to you all that the enemy have taken from you in the days of your rebellion when you genuinely repent of your misdeeds. The bible says in Psalm 89:14 (KJV), “Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before they face.” God will render justice and judgment on sin but His mercy and truth will restore us when we cry out in repentance to Him.
Restoration is often times the product of Mercy. The bible says that “By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil” Proverbs 16:6(KJV). This same characteristic of God is also manifested through the entire book of Prophet Joel. In Joel 1:4 (KJV), God sent His great four dimensional armies thus “That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten.” However, in Joel 2:12-14 the prophet presented to the people God’s heart of love and mercy and admonished them to declare a fast and a solemn assembly with weeping and mourning. They sought for God’s mercy knowing that He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. The result of this national repentance and prayers is God’s great restoration in Joel 2:25-26(KJV), “And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm and the caterpillar, 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 has dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.” When restoration comes from God shame is completely taken away. We can continue to show instances in the scriptures where God’s mercy brought restoration to His people.
My dear reader, my intention is not to bore you with the above prophetic narrations but to reveal to you the abundance of God’s love and mercy that generates restoration in our lives. When we truly repent and return to God by surrendering our life to Christ, God has the ability to restore to us all the wasted years the enemy has stolen from us
Prayer: O God, my Father, restore unto me all that has been stolen from me in the years of my rebellion.
Bro. Joel Ezeugo