God Always Restores Us
"The barn's burnt down. Now I can see the moon." Mizuta Masahide
In 17th century Japan, when everything was made from dried timber, fire was a constant fear as it could start without warning and wipe any and all possessions off the face of the earth at any moment. Those fears came true for Mizuta Masahide one day as he watched his barn, with all of his tools, supplies, and food stores, go up in flames. Can you imagine that moment for him, what it must have felt like, the fears that must have been racing through his head? This wasn't just a barn or storehouse for him, this was a way of life that was now over and would never be quite the same.
Nothing sends us humans into a panic more than facing the unknown. We spend so much of our time, energy, and resources carving out a life for ourselves in which we can, to a tiny degree, know what's next and plan to deal with it. We plan out our lives so we can feel a sense of control, whether in our daily agenda or our 5-year plan. There is a portion of this behavior that is necessary and responsible, so don't get me wrong. However, we can't kid ourselves and not admit that we do this, largely, for the sense of control that these plans and strategies give us.
So, what happens to us Christians when the barn burns down?
Restoration is about so much more than being brought back to square one. Far too often I see people go through a life circumstance like what Masahide went through and immediately set their sights on getting back to where they were at the moment just before the tragedy. A lost job, losing a loved one, a lost relationship, a move we weren't ready for, and so many more instances where all we want is what we once had.
Friends, why do we set the bar for our Creator and Savior so low?
To understand restoration through Jesus Christ, we have to raise the bar of what we think and believe our God is capable of. While I never preach that God causes the fire, that's a theology debate for another time, I wholeheartedly believe that God works through the fires in our lives. Whether they happen to us, or we cause them ourselves, our God is a God who restores us. Not to what it is we want for ourselves, not to what we deserve (because that would be nothing), and not back to the same place we were before. Instead, our God restores us in HIS image, that is the miracle!
Each and every day I wake up, I'm in need of restoration, and not back to the same place I was yesterday, but to the place God is leading me. So often I play tug-of-war with God because I can see and feel His restoration at work, but I want to take a left turn and go back to square one. All the while God is nudging me to take the right turn and not linger on or remain comfortable in what was lost, hoping to see it return so I can go back to the good 'ol days that I know and recognize. God calls me to be a constant work in progress, one that puts my faith in His restoration that will mold me, shape me, and grow me in ways that lead to His will for my life. Life can and will happen this way, we are never told we are immune to disaster and trials. We are told that it is not the final chapter. "And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast" (1 Peter 5:10). Peter reminds us in this passage to hold fast to the promise that God is always restoring us and to never cling too fiercely to the way we want things to go or turn out, but instead hand control over to God and let Him take us to places we never could have imagined.
I picture the disciples who were called, quite literally, to drop their professions, careers, relationships, and entire lifestyles and instead follow Jesus. None of them returned to the life they were living before. Could you blame them if, even for a second, they saw that moment of being called away as their burned-down barn?
I have to imagine there were moments when they were being chased out of towns and running for their lives when they thought to themselves, "I would give anything to go back to fishing for a living."
In those moments where the flames are engulfing the life, job, relationship, or even lifestyle you used to have it can be beyond scary, and I fully understand the desire to stand in the ashes of what was and want nothing more than to see them restored, to go back to square one. But that's not the kind of restoration our God has in store for us. Our God restores us in ways that bring us into the glory of His plan for our lives. Like Masahide managing to see the beauty of the moon rather than the destruction of the barn, we must keep our eyes on the restoration of God, not the comfort of what we used to have.
You are being restored, in some way, shape, or form, today. Are you clinging to square one and hoping for a return there, or are you ready to let go and let God bring you to something brand new?
