Restored & Repaid!

Image by CK Wong via Flickr

I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten...I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes," says the LORD...suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple...
Joel 2:25, Zephaniah 3:20, Malachi 3:1

As we spend this time of Advent waiting for His coming, I have been drawn to several scriptures amongst the minor prophets at the end of the Old Testament. After the final words of Malachi, Israel had to wait 400 years for the birth of Jesus... Now there is a lesson in waiting for the promises of God to be fulfilled; and perhaps an even greater lesson in recognising the promises when they arrive and look a little different to what we had expected! But the promise is there... that God will restore and repay us what we have lost. Ultimately, every good thing we have comes through His grace, expressed to us through Jesus.

Recently I have been thinking about loss both in my own life and in my church community. This is so often a part of our life experience and quite normal. As "The Road Less Travelled" begins, "Life is difficult". But I do not believe that God would have us remain in that place of loss. He wants to restore us and amazingly to repay us. He sends us His Son who can redeem all our brokenness and bring light into all our life's situations. We may have to wait, and probably will, but yes He is coming! Help is on the way.