Picking Up the Pieces

 

Every time I look at images of the storm-ravaged areas in Florida and the Caribbean, I feel a leaden weight in my stomach. Houses, stores and other buildings have been reduced to a pile of match sticks - at least that's what they look like to me. And I can't even begin to imagine what will happen to Barbuda and Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and Mexico. The list goes on and on. 

As I thought about all this, I leafed through a book by Max Lucado. Now this gentleman is one of my all-time favorite Christian authors. I have received lots of comfort and inspiration from his writing, but this book GRACE For The Moment had been sitting on my bookshelf untouched for quite a while. This morning as I turned the pages, reflecting on the effects of hurricane Irma, a header jumped out at me.

A Complete Restoration

And in his own inimitable way, Max begins with the words, God loves to decorate.

Say what? What happened there with Irma was not decoration, it was destruction. But a couple lines down, Max writes, "portraits of hurt will be replaced by landscapes of grace." Comforting words, profound words expressed as only Max Lucado can do it. But as I read further I saw that he wasn't speaking about physical restoration, although God can and does do that as well. He is talking about inner restoration of the soul, of the mind until we become fully attuned to Jesus Christ.

Sometimes in order to restore, God may chip away a little bit here or there, or sometimes, according to Max, "He's been know to gut the whole west wing."

Friends, some of you may have lost more than the west wing. You may have lost everything, but God loves to decorate, He loves to restore, He loves to replenish.

Here are some promises from His word:

 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.Psalms 71: 20

 ‘They shall be rebuilt,’ and of their ruins, ‘I will restore them,’Isaiah 44: 26

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.  1 Peter 5: 10

There are many more such promises in God's Word. And He keeps every one of them.
I want to get Max Lucado's book, GRACE For The Moment, to you. I will send an electronic version of this book to the first three people who write to me and tell me why they would like a copy. Please write to aquildon@yahoo.com. You will be entered into my mailing list where you can receive my newsletter. God bless.