He Restores My Soul

He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Psalm 23:3

Our God is in the business of restoring things.

He Restores His Creation

On a recent winter trip to Yellowstone National Park, our guide shared a tidbit of information about the immense forests of lodgepole pines that cover vast areas of the park. Unlike redwoods and some other trees whose bark protects them from fires, lodgepole pines have a thin bark, and are very susceptible to fires.

However, these rake-thin trees, which can reach 80 feet tall, produce a cone called a serotinous cone. The seeds of these cones are tightly sealed inside by resins, and will remain in the crowns of trees for 30 to 50 years. Unless the high temperatures of a forest fire melts the resin, the seeds will never be released. When fire does come, seeds that have been stored for years are released. The tiny seeds, borne on papery-thin wings, float to the earth below.

Because the heat of a forest fire only penetrates a few centimeters beneath the soil, nutrient material necessary to feed the germinating seeds remains. The seeds germinate rapidly, and the new forest begins to grow. While scientists like to attribute this marvelous ability of the lodgepole pines to evolution, it is a demonstration of God’s ability to restore his creation.

God has promised to restore us and all of creation. What we suffer here and now is nothing compared to the glory that is to come. All of creation will be set free from the bondage of corruption that now enslaves it. Along with the creation, we will “obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” (Romans 8:19-21)

Webster’s Dictionary defines restore as “to bring back to or put back into a former or original state: renew.” Our God loves to take things that appear destroyed, hopeless, and void of possibility and restore them. Revelation 21:5 says, “Behold, I am making all things new … Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” The God who created all that exists, in the beginning, also restores things that have been destroyed. He makes things new.

He Restores Our Lives

The Lord my Restorer, in Hebrew is Jehovah El Ashiyb. Ruth 4:14-15 says, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer … He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age…”

Throughout the Old and New Testaments, we see God’s work as a restorer. He gives back more than has been lost. Job 42:10 tells us, “And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.”

Who can forget the tragic losses of Job? Tested and tempted by God’s permission, Job lost his family, his fortune, and his physical well-being in the span of a few torturous hours. Much like the devastation of a forest fire, he was left with no more than a wife who urged him to curse God and friends who offered false sympathy and advice.

Have you been there? A place where nothing remains of your hopes and dreams? God sees you there. And like he does for the trees of the forest, he wants to restore you, to give you more than you had before.

He Restores Our Hope

Referring to God’s promise to Abraham, Paul says in Romans 4:17, “in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.”

God does not see things as we do. Our finite minds see present circumstances as final, when God sees what will be. God created the world ex nihilo, from nothing. Likewise, when we see no possibilities, God can work miracles from our nothings. God is faithful to keep every one of those promises, in his time, and his way.

What we see is not necessarily what will be. When he was told that Lazarus was ill, Jesus responded in John 11:3, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” There are far grander and higher purposes for our current struggles than we can imagine.

We are so like the seeds of the serotinous cones, trapped in resin until the fire comes to set them free. Only when Christ comes and our bodies are resurrected will we become what we were intended to be. What a beautiful illustration of Colossians 1:27, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

When we allow Jesus into the circumstances of our lives, releasing our struggles to him, to work as he will, are we able to see the miraculous things he will do for us. Only when our hope is in Jesus, alone.

He Restores Our Weary Spirits

Here, on earth, we struggle against sin, enemies, disease, age, and frustration. Our lives are uncertain and our spirits grow weak and tired.

Jesus Christ is our Restorer. He says, in Joel 2:25, “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.”

Our Lord says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28.) We are invited to cease our striving, stop our futile human efforts to reach him, to obtain peace under our own power. Whatever your struggle, there is one answer, one place of rest, peace, and help, and that is at the feet of Jesus.

1 Peter 5:10 says, “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” What a rich promise!

Christians will suffer in this fallen world. We are subject to the constraints of failing bodies, imperfect minds, and an environment that is often hostile. Just as fires come to the forest, we face certain struggle, but we have a Savior who has given us wonderful promises of rest and peace. Come to him. Leave your burdens, whatever they may be, with Jesus, the restorer of our souls, and find rest.

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison… 2 Corinthians 4:16-17

Images by:

1. Image by Steve from Pixabay rainbow-175542_1280

2. Image by Gaby Stein from Pixabay burn-96142_1280 (1)

3. Image by Carlo Walti from Pixabay pinecone-4235014_1280 (1)