Restored

Have you ever watched a person fix something that was once broken? It takes patience, time, space and they have to be pretty gentle with the broken item. It may take lots of tools and several attempts but when the job is done, it is something that is celebrated. Yes there may be a little mark or seam where there never was before but it is so minute nobody even notices.

You know the same goes for our lives. When our world is shattered by tragedy or abuse, rejection, loss, betrayal, the damage done may seem irreparable. I am saying this because I have had to walk down some dark roads that led to heartache, devastation and I know what it is like to wonder if your world will ever go back to “normal”.

As a little girl, I remember sitting in Russia, wondering what had I ever done to deserve being in the orphanage. I remember the last time I saw my brother and the last time my sister hugged me. I remember looking at my birth mother and realizing that she didn’t really care. These are just moments, but these brief moments created fractures inside of my heart and when I boarded that plane to America, they came along.

With all the wonder, the joys and excitement that comes with being adopted, at the end of the day, what happens to that broken, confused and wounded heart? What happens is that it sits there, painfully throbbing until we choose to go find someone or something to help us. Some choose healthy solutions, may it be through counseling, friends, family or God. Others choose to mask the pain with drugs, alcohol, rage, or silence.

I found a God that loves to mend broken lives. It is one of His many jobs and He is actually really good at it! He wants to make our lives whole again because He completely and absolutely loves us.

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord , plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
“Oh Lord, My God I called to you for help and you healed me.” (Psalm30:2)

In the Bible when Jesus healed people He not only healed them physically but He also restored their broken hearts. People that had their lives devastated by a physical handicap were also hurting on the inside. Jesus put their lives back together but you know what, those people then had to go live a life that proved they had been healed. They could not go back to begging or being outcasts, or living in their crippled mindsets. They were restored and they had to make choices that would lead them to staying that way.

The same applies for us today as it did for the men, women and children that were restored by Jesus. When we go to Jesus with our broken lives, He will begin to put back together with us the life that has been torn apart. He is faithful and will do His part, but we also have to do our part and that is to live a life that proves Jesus is restoring us. A life that once was broken now holds the refined marks of a God who heals and redeems.

“But He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him and by His wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53: 5)