Restoration

My heart is so full at this moment, I’m not quite sure I can articulate what I sense inside.

In December of this past year, I really felt the Lord saying that in 2011 we were going to see Restoration. Another friend had heard the word Fulfillment. I believe we are seeing both!

It is no secret that restoration is a process. Whether we are talking about furniture, an old car, an old house or an individual life – there is a tedious and oftentimes long process involved. It’s not all easy or comfortable or pretty. There is so much hard work involved that most will never see or know about. Sadly, too many give up before the completion.

I am a sucker for the big reveal. I love seeing a photo of the old vs. the new or the before vs. the after. Whatever kind of makeover it is, there’s something genuinely exciting about getting a glimpse of the former state and then the amazing transformation afterwards. There’s something in most of us that are intrigued by that. Look at the final 10-15 minutes of shows like “What not to Wear,” “Divine Design,” “Clean House”, “Hoarders”, or even the grand finale of “Biggest Loser.” They give you a look at the former state of a person or home and then boom – the grand reveal. Oftentimes, the transformation is so amazing that it’s hard to believe it is the same person or house. In fact, in the case of “Extreme Home Makeover,” often it isn’t the same. They simply use the same ground, raze what was there, and start completely over.

I believe spiritual restoration is often like this too. We don’t see the hard work, the tears, the pain, the sleepless nights, the days of turmoil, the sense of despair.

However, all is not lost. Just like the story of the potter in Jeremiah. The clay was flawed even in the hand of the potter. The potter watched, he knew, he was fully aware, and yet he did not throw it into a refuse pile. Rather, the potter formed it into a vessel that was pleasing to him. One translation of this passage says that the potter “crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over.”

So, what is our role as friends, as family, as members of the body of Christ?

Well, Galatians 6:1-3 (Amplified) powerfully puts it like this: “If any person is overtaken in misconduct or sin of any sort, you who are spiritual [who are responsive to and controlled by the Spirit] should set him right and restore and reinstate him, without any sense of superiority and with all gentleness, keeping an attentive eye on yourself, lest you should be tempted also. Bear (endure, carry) one another's burdens and troublesome moral faults, and in this way fulfill and observe perfectly the law of Christ (the Messiah) and complete what is lacking [in your obedience to it]. For if any person thinks himself to be somebody [too important to condescend to shoulder another's load] when he is nobody [of superiority except in his own estimation], he deceives and deludes and cheats himself.”

God is a huge advocate of restoration! He longs to see the restoration of the nations and of people.

Maybe you are someone that is in process – going through the behind the scenes difficult threshing floor with God times. If so, it’s almost reveal time! Don’t give up!

I believe that we are about to see restoration on so many levels. Are we ready? I have already seen restoration in more than one situation. I am seeing the fruit, the result of God working the lives of individuals and circumstances.

Don’t miss it. Watch for it! When it happens – give God ALL the glory for it is His handiwork!

God is restoring sons & daughters. God is restoring families. God is restoring hope. God is restoring dreams.   And that’s just for starters!

-----May this be a precious reminder in this season of God’s heart out of Joel 2:12,13.


“Therefore also now, says the Lord, turn and keep on coming to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning [until every hindrance is removed and the broken fellowship is restored].
   Rend your hearts and not your garments and return to the Lord, your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in loving-kindness; and He revokes His sentence of evil [when His conditions are met].” (Amplified version)

----Can’t wait to hear more testimonies! (feel free to send me your restoration story at donnamcfisher@gmail.com)