Pastor’s Corner: “Double Restoration”
Zechariah 9:12 (NKJV) – 12 Return to the stronghold, You prisoners of hope. Even today I declare
that I will restore double to you.
Here’s a question that keeps coming up in conversations: when will things go back to normal? It’s natural to long for normalcy during a trial that doesn’t seem to have an end date. If only we knew the future—if only we knew the specific dates when this trial would be over—we could strengthen ourselves by looking ahead to that goal. Unfortunately, the aspect of a trial that makes it trying, is that we don’t see as far ahead as we’d like. We don’t know how long it will last. That’s why it’s natural to want what was normal.
But the truth is, whatever will become “normal” on the other side of this Chaos in or world today will not be the old normal. It will be something new. We are not going back. So here’s the question I hope we will begin to ask instead: Do we really want to go back to normal? Was the old normal good? Were we really flourishing in the old normal? Was the old normal spiritually healthy?
Old Normal: What was the old normal? A world with less and less in-person interaction, lukewarm commitment, increasing polarization and division, and loneliness (Social media – lonely together). The list could go on: the deaths from despair, the opioid crisis, our loss of moral standards, and a weary sense of meaningless across the country. That’s the “old normal. Oh great – let’s go back to that! The question we should ask, then, is not when will we get back to normal but should we want to go back to normal? And the follow-up question: What should the new normal be?
We need a radical Restoration in our land! In the opening scripture God is calling His people back to Him. Zechariah 9:12 (NKJV) – 12 Return to the stronghold, You prisoners of hope. Even today I declare That I will restore double to you. Godly restoration is never just back to the way it was, it is brought back better than it was before. In the Bible when something is restored, it is always better than it was to begin with. God’s promise to us is a better way, a better life, a better future for ourselves and our loved ones. Let’s face it……not only has much been stolen from us, we have given much away by our complacency, laziness and indifference. WE NEED RESTORATION!
God will take that which is broken and put it together again and make it better than it was before. He will take the shattered pieces of our life, glue them together with his love, and make them strong in the places where they were once weak. Yes, God’s promise of restoration is for abundance. Psalm 71:20-21 declares, “Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. You will increase my honor and comfort me once again.”
BUT……restoration is only given when we repent for our old ways (old normal) and return to God our fortress and His beautiful ways for us (Let’s not go back to Egypt). Time and time again in the Bible, Israel went their own way and did what was right in their own eyes…which led to pain and misery. Only when they cried out to God and repented was God’s restoration released to them.
What if this crisis is actually an answer to prayer and waking us up to our condition and separation from God? What if this crisis is actually an opportunity break free from the slavery of the old normal in order to receive a better way and JOY that cannot be stolen? What if this crisis is a divine disruption that allows us to rethink ourselves, to rethink our lives, to reconsider our habits? What if this crisis is a divine opportunity for DOUBLE RESTORATION IN OUR LAND? Will we take if? The choice is ours.
In His Grace,
Pastor Hamilton