Restoration

^10-11"Yes, God's Message: 'You're going to look at this place, these empty and desolate towns of Judah and streets of Jerusalem, and say, "A wasteland. Unlivable. Not even a dog could live here." But the time is coming when you're going to hear laughter and celebration, marriage festivities, people exclaiming, "Thank God-of-the-Angel-Armies. He's so good! His love never quits," as they bring thank offerings into God's Temple. I'll restore everything that was lost in this land. I'll make everything as good as new.' I, God, say so.

^12-13"God-of-the-Angel-Armies says: 'This coming desolation, unfit for even a stray dog, is once again going to become a pasture for shepherds who care for their flocks. You'll see flocks everywhere—in the mountains around the towns of the Shephelah and Negev, all over the territory of Benjamin, around Jerusalem and the towns of Judah—flocks under the care of shepherds who keep track of each sheep.' God says so. Jeremiah 13:10-13 (Message)

My father enjoys rebuilding and restoring old cars. Working on cars has been a hobby of his for all of my life. Today, he showed me a picture of a Mustang he recently finished. My mother was laughing as she remembered the day that "car" came to their house. You see, he told her he was going to pick up an old Mustang to work on, and he pulled in the driveway with a U-haul. The "car", as he put it, was in so many pieces that he had to box it all up and bring it home in the U-haul. My mother and sister never dreamed that those boxes would become the red and black mustang that now sits in their garage. They couldn't see any future for those broken pieces. My father always had a vision of what those pieces would become. It is the same with our Heavenly Father. He is our Restorer, and He knows exactly what he wants to make of all our broken pieces.

It's so easy for people to just write something off as useless when we no longer see hope for that situation. We also do the same for people. Often, we determine that a person will simply never have any good come from them, and then we are finished with them. The verses above show that God can bring restoration to any person or any situation. Even if our own eyes can not see the possibility of good, God still can. In fact, in many cases, God is the only pathway to restoration after a time of devastation. No matter how hopeless you may feel about anything or anyone, find joy in knowing that God has the power to restore everything and everyone!