God’s Restoration: 3 Steps to Healing and Peace
A full moon lifts her pale face above the horizon as I amble along the snowy path. Blinded by the brilliance, I breathe deeply as God’s restoration washes over me.
As often as possible, I walk through this field as the late afternoon daylight fades to dusk. Here, I find space to let go of my cares and connect with my Creator. Here, I find peace.
Perhaps you long for God’s restorative touch as well. Today, we’ll discuss how to embrace God’s restoration, peace, and healing as we follow his directives in Scripture. This might include taking an evening walk in the moonlight, but we don’t need to leave the comfort of our homes to follow these three steps toward restoration.
God’s Restoration: 3 Steps Toward Healing and Peace
Let’s begin by exploring the familiar words of 2 Chronicles 7:14. This verse reads, “If My people, who are called by My Name, humble themselves, and pray and seek (crave, require as a necessity) My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear [them] from heaven, and forgive their sin and heal their land” (AMP).
To understand this verse, let’s take a moment to explore the context.
The book of 1 Chronicles focuses on King David’s life, and 2 Chronicles focuses on the life of his son, Solomon.
After Solomon finished building the temple, the Lord spoke to him and gave his instructions for his people: “If My people, who are called by My Name, humble themselves, and pray and seek (crave, require as a necessity) My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear [them] from heaven, and forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
3 Ways to Experience God’s Restoration
This directive taught God’s people how to find healing and have peace in Solomon’s time, and it’s true for us today, too. Let’s break this verse into three parts and learn how to apply this teaching to our lives.
1. We humble ourselves and declare our need for God’s help.
First, God told the people to humble themselves and declare their need for him.
This might seem like a simple command, but it’s easy to overlook. We often forget that we need God, relying only on our human strength.
I disobey this command every time I turn to my strength and intellect instead of turning to God for help. This happens when I try to bring my goals to pass in my own strength and when I hurry through my days without even thinking about God.
God wants us to remain aware of our desperation for him at all times and continue to lean on him. I have learned that when I lean on my own strength, my life always lacks deep peace. However, as I acknowledge my need for God and humbly depend on him to guide me, he covers me with his peace.
As I acknowledge my need for God and humbly depend on him to guide me, he covers me with his peace. #peace #faith #God #trust Share on X2. God’s restoration comes as we pray and seek his face.
The second part of this verse is a reminder to pray and seek God’s face. When the Bible tells us to seek God’s face, this is encouragement to seek God’s presence. You might be wondering what it means to seek God’s presence.
Some put it like this: “Seek God’s face and not just his hand.”
In other words, prayer is meant to be more than just listing requests and telling God everything you need him to do for you. In addition to asking for God’s help, learn to spend time with him for the sake of simply enjoying his presence.
For me, this most often looks like spending a few minutes each day sitting beside the window, imagining God’s arms around me, and resting in his love.
Some days, I seek his face by listening to worship music while I rest on my bed.
As I shared earlier, I often walk through the fields behind our house and imagine God walking with me. I don’t ask him for anything during these walks. I just enjoy being with him.
God wants us to seek his face and not just his hand. As we do so, he restores our souls in ways that surpass understanding.
3. Turn away from deliberate acts of disobedience.
The third directive in today’s verse is to repent and turn away from deliberate sin.
Many people don’t understand the difference between confession and repentance. Confession is naming our sins in God’s presence or the presence of others. Repentance goes beyond naming our sins; repentance is turning away from sin and turning toward God. It is a change in direction.
Changing Directions
Repentance is more than saying, “I messed up, and I’m sorry.”
Repentance says, “I messed up, I’m sorry. I turn away from this sin and turn toward you, Lord.” When we repent, we sincerely want to change.
Now that we’ve studied this verse, let’s directly apply it to our lives.
Your Invitation to Seek God’s Restoration
I invite you to begin by humbling yourself and admitting that you need God. It might help to consider the past day. Ask God to show you any moments when he wanted to help you, but you barreled ahead of him in your own strength. Ask God to humble you and help you become more dependent upon him.
Next, seek God’s face by spending a few minutes resting with him, listening to a worship song, watching a candle flicker, or walking outside. Just enjoy being with him. Imagine him smiling at you. He loves spending time with you.
Last, ask God to show you if you are disobeying him in any area of your life. Have you been disobeying him in your attitudes, words, or actions? Have you been repeatedly complaining, spending too much time worrying about what other people think of you, lying, or indulging in a behavior that you know you should avoid?
If so, name your sin in God’s presence. Tell him you are sorry. Thank Jesus for the forgiveness he purchased for you on the cross. Tell God that you will turn away from this behavior and turn toward him in obedience.
If you’re not sure that you want to change your behavior, ask God to change your heart. Also, tell someone you trust—someone who can hold you accountable and help you live the godly life you desire. You are moving toward a life of healing and peace.
This process can be a good way to end every day.
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