I saw a post today that said, “when God says he will give you back everything you have lost, believe Him.”
This post was hard for me. There was no biblical reference, and I couldn’t help but feel a bit hurt by this simple post, given my circumstances. I shared the image/post along with my REAL feelings about it. Many of my social media friends are also grieving parents, and this is the crossroads for us in regards to losing our kiddos and having faith.
What DOES scripture say about restoration, and THIS specifically? I searched and found Deuteronomy 30:3-9 referred to this exactly.
God, your God, will restore everything you have lost; he’ll come back and pick up the pieces from all the places where you were scattered. 4 No matter how far away you end up, God, your God, will get you out of there 5 and bring you back to the land your ancestors once possessed. It will be yours again. He will give you a good life and make you more numerous than your ancestors. 6 God, your God, will cut away the thick calluses on your heart and your children’s hearts, freeing you to love God, your God, with your whole heart and soul and live, really live. 7 God, your God, will put all these curses on your enemies who hated you and were out to get you. 8 And you will make a new start, listening obediently to God, keeping all his commandments that I’m commanding you today. 9 God, your God, will outdo himself in making things go well for you: you’ll have babies, get calves, grow crops, and enjoy an all around good life. Yes, God will start enjoying you again, making things go well for you just as he enjoyed doing it for your ancestors.
God won’t restore my children on this side. However, He will eagerly restore ME. He will gather the pieces of me scattered around, no matter how far from Him some of my parts may be, He will restore me to the life He chose for me. In my obedience to Him, I will find myself again.
My heart will still contain the scars and wounds where it was once broken, but it will be restored, with all its pieces gathered by the only one who knows where every shattered shard lays. I will never stop missing my girls and loved ones, but my wounds will not bleed profusely in the days ahead because God has promised to heal ME here on earth from the suffering of a fallen world.
So, while the post said God will give me back better than what I lost, I know that is not exactly biblical or truthful. God will restore ME, not what is gone from me. He has restored them already. With my obedience and faith, I will be fully restored one day too, and until then, He wants to give me back the best He wanted for ME while I am here. What does that ME look like I often wonder? I am trying to figure that out. I think she is happier on a daily basis, enjoys the simple joys of life. I think she loves herself and is not so critical of her flaws. I think her confidence pushes her to do things that help her get closer to the place she wants to be, in order to honor the Living God who has saved her from the fiery pits of grief, where the darkness and deception can overtake even the strongest of souls.
