Restoration Hardware – Exodus 34:1

1 God spoke to Moses: "Cut out two tablets of stone just like the originals and engrave on them the words that were on the original tablets you smashed.

– Exodus 34:1

Restoration Hardware

Has God ever given you a promise and before it could be realized, you smashed it to bits by doing something rash and impulsive?  I know I have.  Talk about an OOPS! moment!

We all do things that we wish we could undo.  The problem is that once that word has been spoken, or that deed has been done, it's out there and it can never be retrieved.  It can be forgiven, but usually the person doing the forgiving will never fully forget the way our actions made them feel.  There will always be a little bit of separation, a barrier if you will, that our actions placed in the relationship.

When we, through our own rash, in-the-heat-of-the-moment, impulsive, un-thinking actions, ruin what God has set in motion to bless us and to move us into His plan for us, He immediately sets things in motion for us to get back on track – to get back on the path that we veered off of.  There is a catch though.  He will require us to make reparations and restore the relationship or the situation we ruined.  In the case of Moses, God required him to re-build the stone tablets that he smashed out of anger – albeit his anger was because of the sins being committed by the Israelites, it was still wrong for him to act out of anger.  Can you imagine the weight of having to reproduce something that God made – all in one day?  Moses must have been stressed out!  The reward however, was for Moses to be able to spend 40 days and nights with God Himself.  It absolutely changed his life!

God can and will restore us too.  He can take the wrong that we committed and if we are willing to humble ourselves and work at making restorations, He will take us to places and He will grow us beyond what we could imagine.  Our lives will be changed and in turn, we will change the lives of the world around us.  We will get to know God better and He will draw us into Himself so that we can live Him to His fullest for our lives.  The restoration will probably require something that we've never done before; something that is beyond our understanding; something that will stretch us to the breaking point.  But the payoff is huge.  The payoff is God speaking to us, and calling us by name, and using us to show His love and grace and forgiveness, to a lost and hurting world.

Prayer

Father, Thank You for restoration.  Thank You for allowing us to make mistakes and then using them to grow and mature us into being more like Your Son Jesus.  Forgive our sins and our anger and our rash and impulsive ways.  Help us to not let people or situations pull us off the path You have called us to.  Thank You Lord, for loving us so much!

Have a blessed day everyone!

– Richard