God Longs to Restore You With More Than You’ve Lost

Looking at the broken pieces of my life, it seemed impossible for God to restore me and mend my shattered heart, much less use the broken pieces to help others.

My life was riddled with defeat, negativity, trauma, and bad habits for years. I saw no way out…then came emotional healing. I felt connected to God and His love like never before (to read a portion of my healing journey, click here). Yet more areas of unresolved pain made it feel impossible to budge.

What Does Sifting Have to Do With It?

I read a devotion many years ago which rocked me to the core.  The author quoted Amos 9:9 and shared how God allowed a sifting season to purify and refine her to equip her for her calling. Let’s look at the verse below.  

For behold, I am commanding, and I will shake the house of Israel among all nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, but not a pebble will fall to the ground.  Amos 9:9 NASB

As I meditated on that verse, I felt the Lord revealed two things to me…

• The purpose of the shaking/sifting is to reveal and remove the impurities, pain, trauma, and sin — the things that keep us from wholeness and being set apart for Him. That’s what remains in the sieve after the sifting. He will sanctify us through and through. I Thessalonians 5:23 NIV
• The pebbles remaining in the sieve are the very things He uses to equip us for our destiny. ❤️🔥 He’s with us in the sifting and then uses it for others. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 BSB

Your History Is Connected To Your Destiny

Fast forward to summer 2012.  I went through an intense time of inner healing. To walk out my healing, I spent lots of time in soaking worship (soaking in His presence without singing). 

I was thankful for the work God did and that I could consistently feel His love and presence so tangibly. I listened to the song Thank You regularly during that season. The lyrics expressed the genuine cry of my heart to God for all He’d done.  I’ll share some of the lyrics and the full video below.   

Thank You, God, for loving me.

Thank You, God, for saving me and setting me free.

Thank You.  I don’t have the words, but I have a thankful heart.

Thank You for my history. 

Thank You for my destiny.

Thank You for my blessings, I’m counting them today.  

One particular day as I listened to the song, these words came to my heart…

My history is connected to my destiny.  

I knew the Lord was saying He’d use my history of pain, sin, bad choices, and failure as tools in my destiny of helping women.

He reminded me of that phrase when I re-read the devotional. My history is the “pebbles” remaining in the sieve and He’d use those “pebbles” to equip me for my destiny.  

God Restores the Wasted Time And Years

But even with that season of profound emotional healing and Bible studies I still felt stuck.  Fast forward to fall 2020.  I participated in a life coaching program where I discovered how many lies I still believed.  

One lie exposed for the unwanted stray pet that it was…look at all the wasted time, money, and years.

All the years I’d wasted in pain, struggling with bad habits, and sinking in quicksand left me frustrated. And the money I spent trying to get free…that made me angry.  I got a measure of breakthrough and would take steps forward only to get tripped up and take steps backward.

With this lie now exposed, I needed to do something to renew my mind. So I formed an affirmation statement to wrestle that lie to the ground.

God restores (repays) the years the locusts have eaten (Joel 2:25).  He will restore double for what I’ve lost (Zech 9:12) and give me a double portion for my shame (Isa 61:7).   And the thief has to pay me back seven times what he stole (Prov 6:31).  

For about 60 days, I declared this affirmation 2-3 times daily, and anytime the lie reared its ugly head. And something wonderful happened. The lie no longer plagued me even though there was more trauma to heal and I found myself still in the wilderness.

I stood in faith…no longer doubting that God would restore to me more than what I’d lost.

Restored to More

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of using gold to put broken pottery pieces back together. The cracks and imperfections make for a stronger and more beautiful piece of art. What a beautiful metaphor for what God can do with our brokenness and mess. The brokenness He mends and uses to give us compassion for people and to equip us to bring restoration to them.

God longs to restore you to way more than you’ve lost…because He’s a good Father who loves to bless His children. He loves you deeply and He’s SO good.

God wastes nothing. He’ll use all of your broken pieces, failures, and life experiences and turn them into ministry tools and breakthroughs for others.

God wants to restore what you’ve lost…the lost time, dreams, and even money.

God desires to restore what’s broken. He heals the brokenhearted, He mends families, and He heals bodies.

God will make the thief pay back seven times what he stole from you…what the enemy stole from you will be weapons right back against him.

Repayment in Progess

Addressing that lie (and others) was a huge key in finally launching this blog. 

I’ve had to fight for emotional healing, for intimacy with Him, and for my purpose.

The struggle is *real*, but it is and was so worth it.

The weapons I used and continue to use are…

• Meditating on the Word
• Meditating on Father God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit
• Meditating on God’s goodness and faithfulness
• Reviewing and declaring prophetic words with thanksgiving to the Lord
• Declaring His promises
• Thanksgiving prayers
• Mentors speaking into my life
• Prayer singing (singing my prayers to the Lord which may include a combo of all of the above)

My journey of baby steps – one step at a time each day has added up to deeper healing, richer intimacy, and stepping into my calling (even as I’m on my way to the fullness of my calling).

So no matter what you’ve been through, no matter how dark, painful, and destructive, God longs to restore you with more than you’ve lost, but it will require work. I encourage you to fight the good fight of faith for your healing, for deeper intimacy with Him, and for your purpose.  People are counting on your breakthrough. 

If you’d steps on how to process and validate your emotions to help you in your emotional healing journey, click here for access.