God’s Timing for Your Healing: Trusting the Process and Power of Restoration
The hills tell a story as their ruffled crests flog in the summer wind. I remember when these hills were blanketed with sparse glimpses of crusty snow, interrupted by tufts of beige grass and patches of mud. Today, the lush summer meadow seems to speak of the power of restoration.
I’m reminded of Ecclesiastes 3:11. God makes everything beautiful in its time.
God’s Timing and the Power of Restoration
This truth pertains to the farmers’ barren fields as well as our barren hearts. When life is tough, trusting God’s timing for our healing isn’t easy. Most of us prefer to rush through the wilderness seasons of life instead of walking in step with the Spirit.
I’m notorious for offering God timelines: “I’ll dig into these old wounds, but please don’t let this take more than four weeks because our schedule is about to pick up, and I won’t have time for this when that happens.”
Much to my dismay, God’s timeline rarely matches mine.
God knows that the work of true restoration takes time. Today, we’ll talk about God’s timing when it comes to healing our hearts and restoring us.
Insights Into God’s Timing for Restoration
1. Healing is a process.
Most of us would prefer instantaneous healing, but healing is a process. It’s more like peeling the layers of an onion than slicing open a melon.
God most often heals one layer at time. We might think we’ve reached the deepest layer, when, years after an incident occurred, we realize there’s another layer.
Because God cares about our hearts, he is tender with us as we heal. He knows we need space and time. Healing cannot be hurried.
2. Waiting builds character.
Waiting on God’s timing as he restores us builds character. As we follow the words of Psalm 27:14, “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord,” God helps us develop maturity.
Waiting requires surrender. God shapes us as we recognize that he is in control, and we are not. In this way, we experience the power of restoration over time, recognizing that we cannot heal ourselves. God is the Healer, and he wants to teach us to depend on him.
This process is humbling, but we grow spiritually by releasing self-reliance in exchange for dependence upon God.
3. God teaches us to trust him while we wait on him.
Perhaps the greatest growth takes place as our faith grows during times of waiting.
Faith is trusting God in the unknown, and God deepens our trust in him at times when we don’t understand his ways.
The most transformational season of my life have been times when I’ve frequently repeated the prayer, “Lord, I don’t understand what you’re doing, but I choose to trust you.”
Like parents who delight in the trust of their young children, we fill God’s heart with overwhelming joy when we express our ultimate trust in him.
God, I don't know what you're doing, but I choose to trust you. #trust #faith Share on X4. We don’t have to wait passively.
Lastly, it’s important to recognize that we don’t have to sit idly while we wait. We continue doing whatever God last told us to do. We also stay close to him by reading the Word and praying.
This is also a good time to pursue relationships with others and seek godly counsel from wise people.
Meanwhile, we can trust the promise found in Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.”
We live with the expectation that God is working even when we cannot see him.
Final Thoughts on the Power of Restoration
God’s timing is always perfect, even when we don’t understand why he makes us wait. If you are pursuing God for restoration today, keep seeking him. He promises that those who seek him find him.
If you are pursuing inner healing, I invite you to download my free online devotional below.
A Free Devotional for You
Hope for Hard Days is my free 10-day online devotional to help you hold onto hope when life is tough. You will find 10 readings to help you connect with God and claim his peace. Click here and I’ll send it to your email inbox today for free with promo code HOPE.
Calling all moms and daughters—and parents of boys!
As the parent of two sons and a daughter, I have a heart for helping parents develop deeper relationships with their children and with God. Our kids, ages 6, 11, and 14, share this vision. They have helped me write three family devotionals for parents or grandparents to read with the children they care about.
God’s Warrior: Devotions for Boys Who Want to Grow in Courage and Strength is for boys ages 5-13. Now, more than ever, our world needs men who are willing to courageously carry God’s love into the world. Written with input from our two young sons, Aiden and Caleb, ages six and eleven, this book will help the boys you care about find courage and strength in God. Find this life-changing devotional book here.
Devotionals for Girls
Girl to Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith is written for girls ages 7-12. It includes 60 devotions with Scripture, conversation starters, and a shared journaling section for moms and daughters after each devotion. I wrote this book with the help of our daughter, Bekah, when she was eleven. Find this one-of-a-kind shared devotional here.
Heart to Heart: A Mother-Daughter Devotional With 50 Devotions for Teen Girls is for teenage girls ages 13-20. It includes 50 devotions, each with a shared journaling section to help moms and daughters connect through writing. This is a great book for moms who want to communicate about awkward topics—like dating, sexuality, peer pressure, and more—but don’t know where to start. Bekah and I will help you right here.
All three books are available in print and eBook form here on Amazon. They are also free on the Kindle Unlimited plan, which you can enjoy with a free three-month trial! These books make great gifts, and you don’t need to be the parent of young children to read them. Share them with your grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or the young ones you love.
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