Restored

He restores my soul.

Psalm 23:3 (ESV)

These past few months have been a time of restoration for me. When I parted ways with the group I’d been leading, I felt bereft. It was as though I’d lost my identity as a teacher and writing coach. Instead of pouring into others, I was suddenly on the receiving end, pleading with God to pour into me a fresh vision and a new direction for the future.

He did just that. In order to repurpose me, He had to strip down the old, remove the blemishes, fix the dents, and sand down the rough edges. The old had to go in order for God to create something new.

Restoration is not an easy process. It requires time. It is often painful. It involves surrender and submission. We have to be willing. To be honest, I’d grown comfortable with the old. But ‘comfortable’ can be a dangerous place to be. God wants more for my life than ‘comfortable.’ He wants to stretch me, refine me, restore me, so I can be useful.

1 Peter 5:10 says, “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.”

God doesn’t simply restore us. He makes us better than when we were “whole.”