We have all messed up some stuff in our lives…
Money…
Marriages…
Relationships…
Credit…
Reputation…
What have you messed up in your life?
We also know that even when you’re in relationship with God, there are still real consequences for sin, bad decisions and weaknesses. And even now, many of us are living out those consequences.
It’s God’s will that we learn from our experiences, the mistakes of others, and listen to good Godly advice. We must learn those lessons of…
Repentance (Completely turning from our sins and changing our behavior. Not just asking for forgiveness, but actually changing.)
Accountability (acknowledging and owning where we need to change).
Stewardship (carefully managing the resources that God has given us).
Responsibility (owing and living up to our responsibility)
Relationships ( making sure we are doing everything we can for healthy relationships with God first, then one another)
Once we learn the lessons that God requires for our growth, even though we are living out the consequences, God can still restore all of the things we have screwed up through out mistakes, if He chooses. Time after time in the bible Israel and Judah hurt God and suffered the consequences, then after crying out, He heard them and restored what they lost….after repentance.
Check out these encouraging scriptures about restoration…
Psalm 23:3 (NKJV)
3 He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
2 Chronicles 7:14 (NKJV)
14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
Joel 2:25-26 (NKJV)
25 “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten,
The crawling locust,
The consuming locust,
And the chewing locust,
My great army which I sent among you.
26 You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
And praise the name of the Lord your God,
Who has dealt wondrously with you;
And My people shall never be put to shame.
Isaiah 1:16-19 (NKJV)
16 “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.
Cease to do evil,
17 Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Rebuke [a]the oppressor;
[b]Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the widow.
18 “Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the Lord,
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the good of the land;
Isaiah 54 (NKJV)
Sing, O barren,
You who have not borne!
Break forth into singing, and cry aloud,
You who have not labored with child!
For more are the children of the desolate
Than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord.
2 “Enlarge the place of your tent,
And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings;
Do not spare;
Lengthen your cords,
And strengthen your stakes.
3 For you shall expand to the right and to the left,
And your descendants will inherit the nations,
And make the desolate cities inhabited.
4 “Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed;
Neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame;
For you will forget the shame of your youth,
And will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore.
5 For your Maker is your husband,
The Lord of hosts is His name;
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel;
He is called the God of the whole earth.
6 For the Lord has called you
Like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit,
Like a youthful wife when you were refused,”
Says your God.
7 “For a mere moment I have forsaken you,
But with great mercies I will gather you.
8 With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment;
But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,”
Says the Lord, your Redeemer.
9 “For this is like the waters of Noah to Me;
For as I have sworn
That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth,
So have I sworn
That I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.
10 For the mountains shall depart
And the hills be removed,
But My kindness shall not depart from you,
Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,”
Says the Lord, who has mercy on you.
11 “O you afflicted one,
Tossed with tempest, and not comforted,
Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems,
And lay your foundations with sapphires.
12 I will make your pinnacles of rubies,
Your gates of crystal,
And all your walls of precious stones.
13 All your children shall be taught by the Lord,
And great shall be the peace of your children.
14 In righteousness you shall be established;
You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;
And from terror, for it shall not come near you.
15 Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me.
Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake.
16 “Behold, I have created the blacksmith
Who blows the coals in the fire,
Who brings forth an [a]instrument for his work;
And I have created the [b]spoiler to destroy.
17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper,
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their righteousness is from Me,”
Says the Lord.
Job 42:10 (NKJV)
10 And the Lord [a]restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.
If you know in your heart that you have learned from your mistakes, as well as the trials that God has allowed to arise in your life, it’s okay to ask God for restoration.
God can and sometimes will…
Restore your relationship with Him…
Touch the hearts and minds of people that you’ve hurt for restoration in relationships…
Work miracles to restore money and property that you thought will never see again…
Work situations so that your credit can be restored…
Bless you with opportunities to restore your influence and reputation.
GOD CAN DO IT IF YOU TRULY TRUST HIM!
God loves you. Just like a parent who has a baby that had a horribly messy bowel movement that leaked out of the diaper and spread all over the child’s body…the parent doesn’t throw away the child. He or she gently cleans washes the child and restores it to it’s original cleanliness and beauty. That’s what God does for us.
So, begin to ask God during your regular prayer life that as you repent, learn and grow to deliver you from the consequences of you sins, bad decisions and weaknesses.
A SHORT PRAYER FOR DELIVERANCE FROM THE CONSEQUENCES OF BAD DECISIONS…
BE BLESSTIFIED!
BE BLESSTIFIED! 