I admit I love watching the show Flea Market Flip. They find old, beat up items and fix them up to resell them later.
What's interesting is that they do NOT RESTORE these items to their original form and appearance. No, they take what's beaten, broken, old, dead, buried, tarnished, seemingly useless, and forgotten ... and REDEEM or turn the item into something completely new and different.
This is a great example where we the believers get things wrong.
Too often we want God to RESTORE:
- What we had
- Who we were
- Who left us
- What died
- What was lost
When God wants to bring complete REDEMPTION and make something NEW out of you and from your past.
God wants to UPGRADE and REPURPOSE what was lost, what was buried, what was forgotten.
Yes, God is in the business of restoration, 100%. But, I do believe the heart of God is far GREATER than just to give you back what you had - but more so to RADICALLY change you and your life into something different and more beautiful.
YOU are a NEW creation, and the life that you thought was gone, will be a NEW creation that glorifies the heart of God.