God Is Faithful To Restore

I will restore to you the years the locust have stolen. Joel 2:25

What do you do during the waiting. When the storms have passed and you are left surveying the aftermath, learning how to live after living to survive. What do you do when you trust God to restore what the locust stole, but the wait is long?

It is easy to focus on the damage.  When I was in my early twenties I had big plans for what I wanted my life to look like by the age I am now. Sometimes, I wonder how different things would be if had I listened to the Holy Spirit when He repeatedly told me “Do not get on the dirt bike.”   

It is easy to look at the destruction a storm leaves behind, but I want to encourage you to look at the positive.  I am very blessed. I died and God brought me back to life. That is an experience not everyone has. I have felt God near me on more than one lonely night when I had no one but my God and my Parents and even though they tried, they couldn’t help me like God did.   

I have been in the deepest, darkest depressions, cried out to God and seen Him lift the clouds away. At the worst of the TBI when I didn’t know my name, I knew who my Jesus was. When I thought I was losing my mind, feeling like it was one snap away from disappearing, I felt God being the glue that was holding me together.  

I experienced God being my friend when everyone else walked away, chose others over me, or didn’t keep in touch, God did. No matter how much I tried to push Him away, He stayed.  He has never left me. His word says He will never leave us. He will never forsake us. He has proven that to me time and time again. “What A Friend We Have In Jesus” is not just a song to me. He is my closest friend. 

I know what it’s like to feel death lingering near, but feeling God closer. I know how it feels to have the hot breath of fear hovering over me, panic so heavy I had to lay on the floor to breath, yet God was with me and calmed the storm when I whispered “Jesus.”  I have battled PTSD to the point I begged God to let me die.  One call…”Jesus” and His presence filled the room.

When I think of all God has done for me, how He healed me, what He has taught me, what He brought me through, the negatives of the storm seem minor. I am thankful for the journey and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

No matter what we go through in life, we have to shift our focus to God. Focus on what God has done, what He brought you through, what you survived. We all have stories unique to ourselves that no one else can duplicate. We may have similar, almost identical stories but never exactly the same. 

God is faithful to restore everything the devil stole,  in His time. Don’t give up. During the waiting, praise God, thank God, don’t rush Him. Read His Word, pray, learn, grow, work on the areas of your life that need work. God will do what He promised.