My grandfather owned a cherry wood secretary which stood in their living room. When my grandparents died, my mother inherited the piece. Through decades of wear and tear, the wood looked old and worn. As a gift to commemorate the completion of my doctoral studies, Mom had the secretary refinished. The cherry wood looks almost new. The restored secretary now stands in our living room as a reminder of my grandparents.
In 2 Kings 8:1-6, we find a woman who experienced restoration. Due to a famine, she and her household left their homeland, living as foreigners among the Philistines. During those years, she probably experienced brokenness: feelings of loss, displacement, and anxiety. However, God remembered her. After the famine, in a remarkable act of Providence, she returned home to the king’s court just as Elisha told the king a story about her. The king issued the order to restore all of her property and lost income from the pasts seven years. What an act of restoration!
Pastor Tony Evans writes, “When you are restored by a person who knows what he is doing, you will be restored in such a way that no one knows you were broken.” – Tony Evans
God still restores today. We wade through seasons of life, where like the wood on my grandfather’s secretary, we look worn and used. Failed friendships may make us distrustful. Financial losses create internal stress. Disappointments leave us with less hope and enthusiasm than we had in our youth. Yet the Scriptures reveal the Lord as wanting to restore.
The word restore means to give back, to bring to a former place or condition, or to reestablish. The woman in 2 Kings waited seven long years for restoration. Sometimes God restores quickly; other times it takes decades. Complete restoration in some arenas only comes in heaven. Regardless of how long the waiting period, we can rejoice that God is a restorer.
Think about situations in your life today that may seem impossible to fix or beyond restoration. Bring them to the Lord, and leave them with Him. You may have to wait, like the woman in 2 Kings 8. But the same God who restored what she lost can bring His grace and help to you.
