I (God) Will Restore!
July 7, 2020
Joel 1:2-4 (NKJV) 2 Hear this, you elders, And give ear, all you inhabitants of the land! Has anything like this happened in your days, Or even in the days of your fathers? 3 Tell your children about it, Let your children tell their children, And their children another generation. 4 What the chewing locust left, the swarming locust has eaten; What the swarming locust left, the crawling locust has eaten; And what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten.
Joel 2:25-26 (NKJV) 25 “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you. 26 You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, And praise the name of the LORD your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; And My people shall never be put to shame.
(The above scriptures are the ones from which the Lord gave me the theme for 2020, at least in my life. I have been reposting some things from earlier in the year, and most of this post will also be a repeat. However, we are looking at life after 4 months of the effects of dealing with the coronavirus. The more I look at the numbers related to the sickness itself, I cannot escape the conclusion that, although it is a dangerous disease, it does not warrant the hysteria we have applied to it. Many of those in a position to know believe that the measures we have taken to curb the spread have led to even greater problems.
As I was praying recently about what I thought God told me for 2020, I asked him if I had missed it when I felt he was speaking about restoration for this year. His answer to me was, “Don’t you think restoration is needed more now than at the end of 2019.” Of course, the answer is yes. That being the case I realized that the promise of restoration for 2020 was speaking of the very situation we face now.
Whatever has happened to this point in the year, I choose to believe that God will begin now to restore in all areas of life. As we listen to the shrill voices in the media, let us focus more on the never changing Word of God and the promise of restoration he is speaking through it right now. The rest of this post comes from March 22 of this year.)
Many have lost health. Thankfully a very few, compared to what many thought might have happened, have even lost their lives. No matter how few, it is too many. I have heard questions about the long-term effects of this disease. No one really knows if there could be any, and it there are, what they might be.
To a great degree we have lost our sense of security and confidence. For some there may be a loss of faith. For others this will be a door that will open hearts that were not seeking before. If we are honest, we must admit that this disease has not really been all that devastating. The response has been, but not the disease. There are much worse things in the world that could happen to us at any time. How would we respond to them? I hope we never find out.
There are many more things we could point to that have been lost. Much of it in the space of 1 week at least here in the United States. I just wanted to point out a few things because we are all feeling them to one degree or another. When God speaks to me about what he wants to do during the year, as he does every year, most of the time I have a preconceived idea of what he means. Most of the time I do not really understand, and that is certainly been the case this year.
As I have said, I believe 2020 is to be a year of restoration. Joel chapter 2, especially verses 23-27, are the verses the Lord led me too as the year began. I still believe God wants to return many things that have been lost or stolen from us corporately and individually. I believe God wants to fix what has been broken in us as well as in the church and in the world. I believe God wants to return to power the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords who, in Matthew 28, declared that all power was given to him in heaven and in earth. All these things are part of the definition of restoration. I did not expect the “locusts” from chapter 1 to come first, but they did.
Locusts are a type of disease or pestilence that, when they come, eat up everything they can. In Joel, the picture is of absolute desolation as they came upon Israel. Thankfully, I do not believe things are as bad as they seem or as the news media paints them. Nevertheless, they are bad. What I want to share with you today is not a teaching but a prophetic word to you, the church and our country. God Will Restore!
What have you lost in the past week or months due to this disease and the battle fought against it? Have you lost a loved one? I am not saying they are going to be raised from the dead, but God can work a restoration in your emotions and fix what may have been broken by the loss. Have you been affected in your body by this thing? God will restore!
Have you lost financial security, a job or a business? God will restore! Have your financial reserves and savings been diminished or threatened? Mine have. God will Restore!
Have you lost hope for the future? Has your faith been challenged or are you afraid either for the future or the present? God will restore faith, hope and confidence. He is right here with us and he is far greater than any virus or calamity that it can cause.
My son, Pastor Josh Kiefer of Living Word Church in Greene, NY shared a powerful word about Peter walking on water. He made a good point. I believe that Jesus was encouraging Peter not to stop believing. Peter walked on water as long as his focus was on Jesus. He sank when he took his focus off Jesus and focused instead on the storm. My son’s point was this. How could he doubt that Jesus would be there even in the midst of a storm? He would not bring him part way and leave him when he faltered.
We are in a storm. It is not locusts that have caused this storm. It is something far smaller but with effects that have been very devastating. We have walked by faith to this point and Jesus is not going to leave us now. God will restore! What will he restore? Whatever corona virus has taken. Before it is over, we will see God do great things. Count on it. I am! Let me close with one more scripture. This thing is a thief. Proverbs tells us what a thief must do.
Proverbs 6:30-31 (NKJV) 30 People do not despise a thief If he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving. 31 Yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold; He may have to give up all the substance of his house.
Under our covenant, I do not really believe that it is the thief that will restore to us 7-fold or 7 times. It is God who will restore! We need to remember his promises and stand on them by faith. Whatever you have lost, the Word has a promise for that! 2020 is not over yet. I am believing with you for a wonderful time of restoration this year and on into the rest of this decade.
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