Restoration

Have you ever felt God’s restoration happening within you? One morning recently I wrote in my journal, “I feel like You are building things back into me. I feel like the Bionic Woman; You are putting me back together, stronger and better. Like Jamie Sommers, the Bionic Woman, I am dealing with the changes themselves and the emotions attached to them. Like Jamie, who belonged to the agency which saved her life, I am not my own, I belong to You.”


After a parachuting accident, Jamie’s doctor said, “It’s amazing she’s alive at all. Her legs have so many breaks we still haven’t counted them all. The hemorrhaging from her right ear seems to indicate interior damage to the cochlea and corti. And her right arm and shoulder are completely….” Jamie deals with acceptance of her bionic legs, arm, and ear. She has to learn how to use all the new parts, going through lengthy physical therapy.

I find myself dealing with acceptance of the restorations God is making within me. Some the changes are familiar parts, like Jamie’s legs and arms; but some of the changes are more powerful than they were before, like the internal bionic workings of Jamie’s legs and arms. Knowing the weight of these alterations creates a sense of accountability.

While the government agency that foot the bill for her restoration had yet to ask for repayment, when the opportunity arose for her to serve her country, Jamie wanted to take the opportunity our of gratitude. She said, “They saved my life. Now I’m going to return that favor.” Christ paid the price for my salvation and subsequent restorations. Out of gratitude, I want Him to use these improvements for His purposes and His glory. The agency saved Jamie’s life so it could use her as an agent. However, Oswald Chambers writes, “We are not saved only to be instruments for God, but to be His sons and daughters. He does not turn us into spiritual agents but into spiritual messengers, and the message must be a part of us.”

Jamie’s desire to become an agent out of gratitude reminds me of Oswald Chambers comment that “Even the natural heart of the unsaved will serve if called upon to do so, but it takes a heart broken by conviction of sin, baptized by the Holy Spirit, and crushed into submission to God’s purpose to make a person’s life a holy example of God’s message.” As a result I know that when I feel crushed by my circumstances, God’s restoration is available. Seeking and accepting His restoration allows the gospel to be advanced because I am one of His living letters for others to read.

I feel like God has taken my broken places and restored them even better than they were. He can again shape my dreams and life for His purpose.

Would you like God to restore your broken places so you can live for Him? Lord, please show me Your purpose in my circumstances (past, present and future). I offer myself to be Your messenger.

The Bionic Woman pic from http://bionic.wikia.com/wiki/The_Bionic_Woman; the quotations are from The Six-Million-Dollar Man tv series.

Listening

“The key to faith is FOCUS. Where we focus our attention determines our level of trust in God” (Charles Stanley).

Warm days in winter are nice unless you have bats in your chimney. When the temperature rises, the bats wake up from hibernation hungry. Inevitably, one gets disoriented and instead of going up the chimney outside, it comes down the chimney through the fireplace into the house. In January, we had a warm day and a bat stealthily infiltrated our living space. It managed to make it unnoticed to the second floor where one of our cats pounced on it outside the bathroom door.

I was on the other side of the door and heard the bat squeaking. The cat enjoys squeaky toys, especially ones that move. The bat was not interested in playing with the cat, so the bat slipped under the bathroom door to escape. I did not enjoy sharing the small space with the bat. My hero, my husband, later told me the bat was lying on the bathroom floor not flapping around as I imagined. Either the cat exhausted the bat or my shrieking stunned it.

In the mornings following the traumatic episode, I am hyper-focused. I am watchful for any bat activity as I come down the stairs. With no bat sightings, I fix my cup of coffee and sit down at the dining room table. The cat sits on alert on the hearth – listening – expectantly. I watch the cat listen intently. Ready to take cover, I notice that EVERYTHING in our house imitates the bats’ sounds. Even the light bulbs in the light fixture over my head make a bat-like ping as they warm up. It is nerve wracking.

While watching the cat and listening to the house, I wonder if I watch for and listen for the Holy Spirit as intently. I decide I don’t usually; however, when I am focused and aware, I am ready to move at the first sign of action, trusting God to guide me.

Lord, raise my awareness of Your Spirit’s doings and promptings. Help me to be expectantly watchful and ready to move.