Friday, January 29, 2016

What does RESTORE look like for me?


While pondering the word "restore," I did my usual research for the definition of the word. Here is what Merriam Webster has to say: 


To give back or return; to put or bring back into existence or use; to bring back or put back into a former or original state; and to put again in possession of something. 







Then I went to Scripture to see what it says. As expected, the Bible has a lot to say about restoration. 
"But all who devour you will be devoured; all your enemies will go into exile. Those who plunder you will be plundered; all who make spoil of you I will despoil. But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,' declares the Lord, because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.'" ~ Jeremiah 30:16-17 NIV




 "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me." ~ Psalm 51:10-12 NIV










"How much longer will you forget me, Lord? Forever? How much longer will you hide yourself from me? How long must I endure trouble? How long will sorrow fill my heart day and night? How long will my enemies triumph over me? Look at me, O Lord my God, and answer me. Restore my strength; don't let me die. Don't let my enemies say, 'We have defeated him.' Don't let them gloat over my downfall. I rely on your constant love' I will be glad, because you will rescue me. I will sing to you, O Lord, because you have been good to me." ~ Psalm 13 GNB



 "I have so many enemies, Lord, so many who turn against me! They talk about me and say, 'God will not help him.' But you, O Lord, are always my shield from danger; you give me victory and restore my courage. I call to the Lord for help, and from his sacred hill he answers me. I lie down and sleep, and all night long the Lord protects me. I am not afraid of the thousands of enemies who surround me on every side. Come, Lord! Save me, my God! You punish all my enemies and leave them powerless to harm me. Victory comes from the Lord - may he bless his people." ~ Psalm 3 GNB





"Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you - unless, of course, you fail the test? And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test. Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong - not so that people will see that we have stood the test but so that you will do what is right even though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but 

only for the truth. We are glad whenever we are weak but you are strong; and our prayer is that you may be fully restored. This is why I write these things when I am absent, that when I come I may not have to be harsh in my use of authority - the authority the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down. Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you." ~ 2 Corinthians 13:5-11 NIV

Ever since receiving my word for this year, I have pondered and prayed what this means for me. What do you have for me, Lord? What am I to focus on? When I pull the viewfinder back, there are many parts of my life that could use some restoration. Where does this start? Relationships that are on the outs? Health concerns? Finances? Our fixer-upper home that still requires a great deal of work? 


What about looking through a spiritual lens? Where am I in my walk with God? Does that need restoration? As one of our pastors spoke last weekend, "Am I all in?" Oddly enough, there is a great deal of focus on David of the Old Testament in my life recently. Talk about some restoration time period. That could entail a whole other blog post. Maybe another time. What I will point out is that David was the "runt of the litter." He was the one of Jesse's family least expected to do great things, yet God said he was a man after God's own heart. (1 Samuel 13:14) I pause to reflect on my heart and recall so many of my struggles in recent years and realize how my heart has been hurt and the scars that are there. I am beginning to think that part of this restoration could be simply of.....my heart. I have recently been reminded of a time in my life many years ago when I became severely depressed, even to the point of considering taking my own life. I felt that God had thrown me out, no longer wanting me. Telling me that I was worthless. While the depression ultimately lifted and I, fortunately, never acted on my thoughts of self-harm, I began moving forward again. Though I continued to carry painful scars from years of hurt in so many aspects of my life. Could I dare to think, or even hope, that this restoration could be God restoring me and helping me to become the person He created me to be? That the plans He has had for my life will finally be coming to fruition? I wonder.





What I DO know for a fact is that God never wastes a step, so my life experiences, pain, hurt, successes....None of it is for naught. I wait to see how my Father will make use of all of it.





















all contents (c) 2016 Laura Inglis

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Finding My Word for 2016




2016 will be the fifth year that I have been involved with the OneWord365 idea. After spending 2015 on a "Journey," I actually kind of wondered if I was going to continue participating with it. I spent the last month in prayer over this decision as well as pondering the journey of 2015. My understanding is that many people choose their word in lieu of a New Year's Resolution. I choose to spend time in prayer to find out what God wants me to focus on throughout the year. As 2015 ended and 2016 began, my answer came that I was not yet finished and my new word would be "RESTORE." As there are many reasons I can imagine that word would show up in my head, I prayed for a week, asking for confirmation that this word was from God. This confirmation came in quite the interesting way that I thought I would share with you.



My best friend and I like to take the week after Christmas and go off for a post holiday break from everything, somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. A very dear friend and I began this tradition several years ago, leaving our children home with their fathers, who were both off of work during the holidays. It was wonderful for us "stay-at-home Moms" to get a much deserved break. Fast forward several years, my best friend and I continue the tradition as she is a teacher so off of work during the holidays and I take the time off from my business to re-coup and return to my clients all fresh and ready to go. This year, we chose to spend a week on Orcas Island. We were fortunate enough to see some of God's awesome artwork while driving around and hiking. I have gotten to a point in my life where I really enjoy hiking and desire to do more of that as time goes on. 


Anyway, I digress. While we were on the island, God did what He so often does to get my attention. He used music. The playlist on my iPhone that is set on random played a set of songs all relating to restoration. It definitely grabbed my attention. While driving back to the ferry after our week was complete, I was listening to the music and praying that God confirm my "assigned" word or correct my thoughts. All of a sudden, I saw an eagle flying below the treeline, headed straight towards my car with prey in it's talons. It was so absolutely incredible. We were on the road alone so I stopped the car, just staring at the large bird as it veered away towards it's destination. Then I saw the eagle's mate just ahead, flying towards the one that had flown towards us. I just sat there in awe, wishing I had been able to snap a photo of the experience. It all just happened so fast and, apparently it was for our eyes only. After the birds had departed, a reminder came into my mind. Eagles were at one time endangered. Then they were restored in number, however they remain a protected species. One might think this was a message from the Lord. I believe so. My next thought was to attempt to recall any Scriptures that pertained to eagles and, of course a passage in Isaiah 40 came to mind. 



"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." ~ Isaiah 40-28-31





That God would send me such a message so clearly, absolutely stunned me. My eyes filled with tears and I was in awe. Not only did I receive confirmation about my word for the year, I had an experience that led me to believe I was in the presence of my God. How does restoration happen? Well, perhaps it is directly from the hands of God. I don't know what this year will look like, but I will explore the idea of restoration in another post. This post may require some pondering for me as well as some of you. That experience occurred about a week ago and I am still processing what all of this means for 2016. RESTORE? RESTORATION? I guess we shall see.



all contents (c) 2016 Laura Inglis