When bad things happen to people, especially God’s people, many ask, “Where was God when you were going through that?” or “Why has God done that to you?”. Today we are talking about how God restores, he does not destroy.
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
Watch the video of this teaching at https://www.celllifechurch.tv/god-restores-not-destroys/ or on our YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/K1PFN9vLWMw
Life can be tough. There are seasons in life that feel like we are being attacked from every direction. Terrible things happen to us, our loved ones, or our friends. We can start to wonder where is God in all of this? We even start to ask God why he is destroying our life or the lives of others. But that’s a false accusation.
The devil has been given authority over this world. However, God retains his sovereignty over creation. We are living in this world and subject to the calamity the devil causes. Sickness, disease, wars, and storms are all things that directly affect us because we are in this world.
Our attitudes are affected by life in this world too. The world is what we see and experience all day every day of our life. That can wear down a person’s attitude. This is why we must continually return to God in prayer and praise and be sure to continue to read scripture.
I can say with confidence that God restores, he does not destroy. We are precious to him and he wants nothing but his perfect will for us. Let’s look at a few ways God restores our lives.
As we said earlier, daily life in this world can wear you down. Every moment takes a piece of joy from us it seems like. That joy must be restored to us. This joy is more than just being happy. The joy we are talking about is the joy of our salvation. It is the joy that fills our hearts because we know that we are loved and cared for by our Creator, God.
One of the easiest ways the devil has in robbing us of our joy is by deceiving us or tempting us into sin. Sin is direct disobedience to God and the devil will try all sorts of things to tempt you or trick you. When we engage in sin we build a wall between us and God and our joy starts to drain away. This can happen to any of us.
King David is a perfect example of this. You can read about King David’s mistake when he had an affair with another man’s wife. He then had the man set up to be killed so that he could marry his wife. This is the same King David that was said to be a man after God’s own heart.
Once David realized the sin he had committed and the results of that sin he was devastated. He realized he was far from God at that moment. This is when David wrote what we refer to as Psalm 51. Psalm 51 is David’s prayer to God for restoration. Let’s read Psalm 51:12.
(12) Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
You see God is not a destroyer. God is the one who restores our joy. He gives us a willing spirit to seek Him and follow Him. It is this constant connection with God through Jesus that sustains our spirit and helps us see the enemy’s tricks and temptations.
Allow God to restore your joy.
Our lives are a spiritual battleground. Satan is constantly trying to fight God and take as many of us with him as he can. This spiritual war is taking place in the hearts of people. There are days when it seems that the devil is winning. We have moments, days, and even seasons where we fail. We make mistakes and create more distance between ourselves and God. It is not God destroying us or bringing bad things our way, it is the devil drawing us away from God. This is a battle for our souls.
God is a restorer, though. Even when we are being led away from him by the devil, we can be restored. No one has gone so far that they cannot be returned to God. Let’s read Psalm 23:3.
(3) he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.
God Restores your soul. He refreshes us. There is nothing we can do and nowhere we can go that God cannot reach us and start to restore us. God is not punishing people for making wrong decisions. God is not ruining people. He is not punishing you for something. God wants only to restore your soul and have a loving relationship with you.
We often mistake the consequences of our own bad choices or sin as punishment from God. That is simply not true. We read Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:45.
(45b) He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Both good and bad things happen to everyone. The ultimate reward or punishment is eternity and where you will spend it. The choice is truly yours.
God does not cause bad things to happen to good people and he doesn’t cause good things to happen to bad people. This is all the devil’s doing. God is a restorer, not a destroyer. He wants everyone to return to Him and spend eternity with him.
Ask God to refresh your soul. Pray that the Lord will not only restore your joy in the midst of life in this world but also that he would refresh your soul so you can withstand the schemes of the devil.
As we just read in Matthew, the sun rises and sets on the evil and the good and the rain falls on the righteous and the unrighteous. Life in this world can rob us of our joy and love for God and one another. We make poor decisions and suffer the consequences of those decisions. Let’s face it, bad things do happen to God’s people and God is often wrongly accused of causing it.
Here’s the good news, though. God can use that in your life to affect change in you and others around you. When God does restore to us what the devil tries to destroy we can share that with others. We can testify to God’s greatness and goodness. Our story and restoration can be an inspiration to someone else who is experiencing something similar.
One of the beautiful things about God is that when he restores, he does it lavishly. The entire book of Job is about the devil trying to destroy Job’s faith in God. God allowed the devil to destroy everything in Job’s life. He lost everything, yet he never once gave up his faith in God. God restored all Job had lost and more.
We read similarly in Joel. God restored his people and provided all they needed and more. Let’s read Joel 2:25.
(25) “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten— the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm— my great army that I sent among you.
God restores everything to us. It may not be in our timing, but it is at the right time. The key is to be faithful, like Job, and not turn our back on God regardless of what happens to us. God will repay us for everything that the devil steals from us. This world is just possessions and does not mean much. What the devil is really trying to steal from us is our souls and only God can restore that to us.
Jesus says it best and it is recorded in John 10:10.
(10) The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
The thief Jesus is referring to is Satan, the devil. The devil comes to steal you away from God. Everything that happens in this world is meant to lure you away from God. He is a master at it. But Jesus is greater than the devil. Jesus comes that we may have life, abundant life. Our hope and salvation are in Jesus. We return to God through the sacrifice Jesus made for us all.
God restores, he does not destroy. When you are down or find yourself separated from God, cry out to him, just as David did. Pray and ask Him to restore your joy, refresh your spirit, and restore your soul. Then testify of his goodness and faithfulness to everyone you meet.
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