Column Post by Laura Hyers
It’s funny how a single word can chase you around. And by funny, I mean really, really irritating. I feel like it’s God giving me that Father-grin of His and saying, “Hey, Laura, do you get it now? I mean, do you truly get it? Because I think this is important. And you should, too.”
For the past week, that word has been restoration.
I’ve been lost in my head about a few things and had resigned myself to the fact that things were the way they were and that nothing could be done about it, the end.
Relationships were broken, life was full of reasons for anxiety, and pain was inevitable, thanks very much. I had stooped so low as to resort to moping in my mind in church on Sunday as my husband was on stage leading a song. Then, of course, the words to the bridge knocked all the wind out of my pity-party sails:
Everyone – You forgive, You forgive
Everyone – You restore, You restore
Everyone – You redeem, You redeem
Everyone, everyone…
Even when I’m selfish and make everything about me, God is quick to forgive. The first line made me stop short, and then I couldn’t help but feel guilty for being so self-centered. I thought more about the words and I wondered if that “restore” thing could even really happen, but found peace in the promise of redemption in spite of my struggles, in spite of my sinfulness, in spite of my selfishness.
Later in the service, a friend was talking about his job detailing and refinishing yachts and the amount of work that goes into it. We’re talking hours of manual labor in the hot Florida sun, and then working into the evening when the job doesn’t get done while the sun is up. This guy works hard, six days a week, and goes home exhausted every night, but he recognizes the value of it. He said something that has been clattering around in my brain nonstop:
No one really thinks about the price of restoration.
No one thinks about the time or effort that go into making an old yacht look brand new, or taking a house that is falling apart and returning it to its original glory. No one thinks about the price she will have to pay to see the broken things in her life restored—me more than anyone.
What it comes down to, friend, is this: how much do I want what I say I want? Am I willing to pay the price of making whole the things that are fractured? Or, when push comes to shove, is it too much? I wish I could tell you I have really great answers for these questions, but I’m still wrestling with them myself.
What words are following you around this week—in your Bible, your journal, your conversations—where is God asking if you get it?
Are you brave enough to follow Him?
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Laura Hyers is a Tampa native, writer, and the newly wed wife of musician Caleb. She recently graduated from the University of South Florida with a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a concentration in literature and is currently teaching preschool. When not chasing a class of two-year-olds, Laura is writing and fighting fierce bouts of wanderlust. She loves music, reading, being near the ocean, and dreaming big over huge cups of coffee with her best friend Lakin. Laura blogs at http://littlebirdmarie.wordpress.com.
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My dad, in the context of being a leader, told me that a lot of self righteous people/Christians believe being a leader is pointing out the places where people are wrong or off, very few are willing to pay the price on that persons life in order to gain a platform of trust and love where correction might be received. He called it building “love equity”, pouring life and investing love into them so when the time comes for conflict or correction, they know you have just as much to lose as they do if they fall. He sited how people use Paul’s admonishments to the churches in his epistles as a model for direct verbal correction but fail to realize Paul had birthed them into Christ and was in prison paying the price for his acts of love for those churches. I live that our church is one that sees our role not as the ruler by which to measure the standard of holiness, but as a resource where broken things discover their value and are then loved into a place of restoration!
I love how God bless me with words of encouragement, hope and strength with new themes for each season. Most often it is a Scripture that I hear, read, see and receive over and again. Recently the the reoccuring question “Are you willing to dance?” I heard a communication seminar speaker share about how some are just not able or willing to dance? (A verbal expression of really communicating with connection) Are we dancing in our most important relationships? Or are we battling with defensive reactions? When God introduces a thought, He keeps reminding me from different sources until I finally get it! So yes God only “You” can stalk me through your messengers so that I can heal, forgive for love and dance! Thank you for GRACE in my missteps.