DEEP RESTORATION

Isaiah 61:3 “… to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.”

God cares about where you are hurting. Jesus quoted this passage from the prophet Isaiah to describe his mission. He came to bind up the brokenhearted. He is here to release captives from emotional prisons. He is here to let people know that the favor of God rests on them. He came to comfort those who are mourning a loss and experiencing grief — whether you are mourning the loss of a person, your health, a marriage, lost finances or any number of things. He has come to restore you to a place of wholeness and place a crown of beauty on you. The places where our lives are in ashes, he has come to bring the healing oil of gladness. Where there is mourning, he has come to place on us a garment of praise. Where there is despair and hopelessness, he has come to make us as strong as an oak tree which he has planted. And his ultimate purpose is that we might be displayed as trophies of his grace and goodness. He has a plan in mind to bring about our restoration, healing and wholeness. This is the desire and heart of God for us.

What this means is that there is hope for those of us who have areas of brokenness in our lives. It means that God cares about those wounds and wants to heal us. It means that his Holy Spirit has the power to make us whole. We all have inner wounds that were brought about by the battle of life. All of us have been wounded in some place and to some extent. It is part of living in a fallen world where good and evil exist conterminously. It is not possible to grow up in a fallen world without accumulating some wounds, and we need to understand that God cares about our wounds.

What are we to think about this and how are we to respond? We must know that God meets us in our brokenness. Many times people distance themselves when someone is having serious problems, but God draws near. He wants to meet us at the place of our pain. Being wounded is not weakness. God sees our need and responds to it without condemnation. God is concerned without condemning. And he offers to heal our brokenness if we allow him to go there; if we invite him into the place where we were wounded.

Most of the time we try to keep those wounded places within us private and hidden. They become a burdensome secret — a place that no one is allowed to see. Healing comes when we let Christ take us by the hand and walk with us back in time to revisit the frightening and hurtful event that have wounded us. Perhaps in your life there are several. The choice is to keep it all locked up like a giant tomb inside of us, or we can allow Christ to unlock the door to the tomb, open it and stand by us as we see the ugliness of what is inside that tomb. Together we look at what we have been trying to hide. He walks into the tomb and empties it. Thankfully, God does not look at us and say, “Just get over it!” He deeply cares about us and wants to bring restoration to our heart and mind.

That is what Jesus wants to do for you. When you have time that you can spend in quiet, private prayer, invite him to come with you to the place of your shame and disgrace. Invite him into the memory and the emotion of what wounded you. Feel him near you, as together you visit the place where you were hurt the most. Let him be your champion as he speaks words of forgiveness and restores your dignity. He will ultimately take care of those who have hurt and wronged you. Let him heal the wounds that life has brought. Don’t be afraid to show him all of it, for he is already aware of what took place.