Love and Restoration

The other day I contemplated refinishing a painted bookshelf.  As I took a closer look and saw the brush marks from previous applications of paint, I realised I was looking at a big job.  It would take a lot of time to strip the paint, sand all those little corners, prime and repaint.  It came down to a simple question:  did I love the furniture enough to restore it when I could easily replace it with something better?  The honest answer was no.

When it comes to restoration of people, did you know God has already answered in the affirmative?  He has done all the work required to restore lost souls to fellowship with Himself, redeeming lives from death by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  By the power of the Gospel we are not doomed to destruction (like many pieces of old furniture I have dismantled over the years) as God has extended His gracious offer of reconciliation to all sinners.  Restoration ought not be reserved only from unregenerate to saved but from falling into sin and being lifted up.

After David sinned he sang in Psalm 51:12, "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit."  It is of the LORD's mercies we are not consumed, and He delights to deliver and save.  God restored David to the throne over all Israel after being usurped by Absalom.  Following a long season of captivity in Babylon God restored His people to the land of their inheritance.  Jesus restored the sight of the blind, and He restored a man's withered hand when stretched out in obedience.  Jesus restored full health to a woman with a flow of blood, restored good posture to the woman bent double by a spirit of infirmity, and even restored the dead to life again.

Galatians 6:1 shows we too as followers of Christ are to walk in His steps:  "Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted."  As the LORD demonstrated love by restoring us to Himself through the Gospel, so we ought to restore others who have been overtaken in any trespass.  Do we love people by gently restoring them, knowing we have been and are being restored by God's grace?  God restores because He loves, and seeing that old bookshelf drove this home.

Mercy For All

"When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD; and my prayer went up to You, into Your holy temple."

Jonah 2:7

These are words of the prophet Jonah after he was swallowed by the great fish God prepared for him.  We do not read of him seeking the LORD in prayer when he fled from the presence of God or even on the tempest-tossed ship.  It was as his life ebbed away in pitch-black darkness he remembered the LORD and prayed.  When his soul fainted Jonah finally relented and begged God to save him.  God was ready and waiting to do so, for the LORD spoke to the fish that expelled him on dry land.

God brought Jonah to a place of crying out for mercy, a place Jonah was unwilling and unable to find on his own.  What God did for His prophet He also did for the children of Israel through war.  Lamentations 5:20-22 expresses well the feelings of hopelessness Jeremiah felt after the atrocities he witness and experienced during the siege of Jerusalem:  "Why do You forget us forever, and forsake us for so long a time? ²¹ Turn us back to You, O LORD, and we will be restored; renew our days as of old, ²² unless You have utterly rejected us, and are very angry with us!"  Jeremiah wept over the suffering of his people, and his expectations shattered with the knowledge God could deliver them but did not.

Jeremiah felt forgotten and forsaken, but this was not the case.  God was actually answering Jeremiah's prayer for Him to "Turn us back to You, O LORD" by the fiery trial He allowed by sending His servant king Nebuchadnezzar to take people captive and destroy the city--including the temple.  For a long time God's people had drawn near to Him with their mouths but their hearts were far from Him.  Like a loving father disciplines the son he loves, God chose the Babylonians as His instrument to chasten His people to remember Him, to return to Him so they could be restored, for renewal and revival.  God allowed Job to suffer, not to destroy him for his guilt due to sin, but to demonstrate His mercy and compassion to all.

Jeremiah desired restoration by deliverance from the trial, but that is often the means of God's refinement.  A principle under the Law of Moses was all spoils of war that could endure fire must be purified by fire before they could be possessed, and whatever could not survive the fire was to be washed in water (Numbers 31:21-24).  By faith in God His people are of Him and thus enabled to endure fiery trials that work for our refinement and restoration.  In the midst of trials we might feel forgotten or forsaken by God, and this ought to prompt us to seek the LORD.  In departing from God and trusting in lies we forsake our own mercy, for God is faithful to hear and save all who cry out to Him.

We faint; we forget God.  God does not faint, nor does He forget.  Psalm 30:4-5 reads, "Sing praise to the LORD, You saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. ⁵ For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning."  The trials and troubles we desperately want to avoid or see ended immediately God brings us through according to His mercies, faithfulness and love.  We are only sojourners in the valley of the shadow of death and need fear no evil for God is with us to protect and provide for us.  Praise the LORD all the time, the living God who has accepted us into the beloved according to the riches of His grace.

Confession, Prayer and Healing

Recently news broke that a major telecommunications company had been hacked and millions of account details had been stolen.  The company has primarily come under fire, not only for alleged "human error" that allowed the breach to occur, but for not promptly notifying their customers the theft had occurred.  News agencies reported millions of phone numbers and details up for sale on the dark web before the company alerted affected former and current customers.

When these sorts of things happen that have the potential for bad press, whether in companies or personally, one common response is to keep quiet for damage control.  Instead of voluntarily telling the truth to protect the interests of others, it withholds details to protect itself.  This approach aims to maintain the the outward appearance of professionalism while an internal investigation is underway.  This provides means to pin the blame on a person or group to avoid soiling the brand as a whole.  Should these tactics fail, another approach is that of spin.  It seeks to justify self as actually having done the right thing in response to criticism leveled:  it was not a mistake when customers were not immediately notified because it was all in the grand plan of communicating through media first.

Everyone makes mistakes, people and corporations comprised of people included, but we don't enjoy admitting when we make mistakes ourselves.  From articles I have read, there is very broad support for telecommunication companies to be required to notify their customers of known breaches as soon as possible--even though this would be potentially embarrassing and does not foster confidence in a brand.  I would feel more comfortable with a company that is willing to say there could be a possible breach as well as known breaches if every time it happened there was improved oversight and steps taken to mitigate future mistakes.  I would rather a company admit their fault and take prompt action to revamp their security rather than pretending to be perpetually perfect when no one is.  Companies comprised of people ought to be accountable to the law of the land, consumers, and care for their fellow employees.  If this is reasonable, isn't it also reasonable the church and members of it are accountable to God and one another in love?

James 5:16 affirms this:  "Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much."  "Confess" means to "to agree," that our words we say would be consistent with truth and in agreement with our conscience.  If we are angry and offended on the inside because we have refused to forgive someone, we should not pretend or act like we are faultless.  We aren't to spread a report of how badly we have been wronged but to confess our trespasses to one another.  Sin always breeds in bunches.  The things that have offended us have merely scratched away the self-righteous, proud varnish to reveal our hearts in truth.  It is loving when someone else points out our errors, painful to our pride as it might be, but we are called to tell on ourselves to the end we would be healed as we pray together.  Let us be quick to admit our faults without damage control, blaming others or spin, for the God who holds us responsible to obey Him desires our healing and restoration.

Shoes and Self-Idolatry

I recently viewed a segment where a professional athlete led a video crew on a tour through his house.  He showed them his epic game room, salt-water aquariums and finally showed off a closet filled with shoes.  In a room spacious as a lounge room, shelves of pristine shoes lined the walls in individual pairs under coloured lights.  These shoes were collectible and very expensive, some of his first major purchases as a pro after he began making millions of dollars annually.  He explained when he looked at the shoes it was a reminder of his accomplishments and tangible evidence his hard work paid off.  His collection of shoes existed more than just for comfortable walking or fashion, for each pair had been carefully selected and gathered to pay homage to him.

One might look at the man's closet and assume shoes are that man's idol because of the sheer amount of expensive shoes in the collection or the customised space he created to accommodate them.  While this could be the case, based upon what he said it was more likely he was the object of the worship.  This gathering of shoes in actuality was a shrine to himself.  Every time he walked into a room without a word they sang his praises in their assigned places; the assembly spoke of his wealth, achievements and refined tastes.  He was pleased to receive the worship of these bits of rubber, leather, plastic and nylon that congratulated him and carried him around to public events like people hoist a graven image in a parade.  Idolatry is a matter of the heart objects may only be symptoms of:  those exotic cars, houses, properties and collections do not exist for themselves but can be assembled because they provide what a person prizes.  They speak in dollars of accomplishment, to gain envious attention from others and boost your pride.

Whether we have or do not have, there exists in the heart of men the desire to be honoured and glorified as God, one worthy of worship and praise.  Self-seeking is a core principle of all idolatry, for it seeks to earn a desired blessing or avoid a despised curse.  Dallas Willard in Renovation of the Heart wrote about how self-idolatry can corrupt our perspective.  He wrote, "...the fundamental pride of putting himself at the center of the universe is the hinge upon which the entire world of the ruined self turns." (Willard, Dallas, et al. Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ. Form, 2021. page 54)  Man does not naturally see his need for God or have the slightest desire for God because he finds his greatest satisfaction in himself, his accomplishments and acquisitions.  We need not even have a pair of shoes to idolise them, and the shoes, clothes and jewelry we have can exist for our worship and praise.

It is important we do not fall into the legalistic trap of imagining shoes, cars and houses are idols in themselves.  These are perfectly fine gifts from God we can own without fear of corruption.  But it is important we guard our hearts and consider our motives, for even in the regenerated heart of a child of God we can lapse into self-idolatry.  The safeguard against this is to humble ourselves before God, acknowledging all we are and all we have is a gift from God, giving God His just due.  Such are not embarrassed to own what God has provided and are not envious of others who have more than us.  This one is not preoccupied with what he has or does not have, for Jesus Christ is our all in all.  To be deprived of or to lose things of  great monetary value does not wound us because they were never entangled with our affections which cling to God in faith.  Those who live as if they are God will remain empty--regardless of what they achieve or accumulate.  Blessed is the one whose God is the LORD, for He is our exceedingly great reward in Himself.