One of the yardsticks that can be used to measure great leadership or how successful a leader is; is in the ability or capacity of such a leader to either lead a change or restore normalcy to an existing condition or a prevalent circumstance. Whenever there is a deviation from the normal or the perceived way that seems to be right, there is a need for the introduction of an experience called restoration, and which must necessarily be routed through a process called redemption. When a man, a marriage, a nation, a government or political party seems to look normal, there won't be any cry for change. The cry or desperation for change and the yearnings of men towards securing or experiencing what is perceived to be the ideal is called restoration. God is a God that is “restoration oriented” if I may put it that way. It is a very fine leadership quality of God that we must all come to acknowledge. Another word we can use to describe restoration is healing. In this article, I will, by the grace of God, show us how restoration takes place and the dynamics involved for that experience to become a reality.

As much as a people yearn for restoration, if they fail to meet certain criteria that would be highlighted in the course of this discussion, such a people, such a nation, such a marriage or that individual may not see or experience it. It is not a matter of emotions or wishes, it is about alignment. One of the finest works of the Holy Spirit is that He is responsible for restoration, meaning that restoration is never possible outside of the Holy Spirit. The Bible describing or showing us a template in the beginning about the situation of the earth in Genesis 1:2-3 described the earth to be in such a deplorable condition until the activity of the Holy Spirit was recorded.

See what the Scripture says in Luke 5:17 “Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them.” It says and the power was present or available to heal. In other words, we could say “and the Holy Spirit was available to restore.” The dimension of God that carry the capacity to restore is the power of God which we could also call the Holy Spirit. That Scripture says “as He was teaching”, the question is; what was He teaching? The word of God, right? This means that as the word of God was coming forth, the power that was available was making impact through the word. So, it means that if the Holy Spirit and the word are not available to heal, to set free, to deliver, to redeem, then the experience would never be a possibility or a reality. In Isaiah 42:22 the Scripture describing a hopeless situation of a people; it says; “But this is a people robbed and plundered, all of them are snared in holes and they are hidden in prison houses; they are for prey, and no one delivers: for plunder and no one says restore.”

From the description we saw about the earth in Genesis chapter one, the Scripture says the earth was without form and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. In the Scripture we read in Isaiah, it says the people were robbed and plundered, and I want us to take note of that word robbed and plundered it was something that happened in the past, thereby giving them the experience of prison and bondage that they now have. For this people, the only way you can heal them, or return them back to their original state is to simply return what had been stolen from them. It says; Plundered and rubbed and locked up in prison houses. And then the Scripture went further to say but no one says “restore.” Now the word “restoration” is the subject of our discussion today. What does restoration mean? It is the process of bringing something, a nation, a people or an object back to its original state.

If I have a pair of shoes for example, and the sole is worn out and I take it to a cobbler, and a new sole is being replaced with the old alongside some other necessary adjustment, then it means that the shoe has been restored. While the process of repair could be called redemption the experience of wearing a new shoe is called restoration. The former is a process that ushers in the latter. The process births the experience. In case someone is asking, what is the difference between redemption and restoration? Are they not the same? No! they are not. 1 John 2:2 says: “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” Redemptions involves a sacrifice, a payment, a ransom in order to meet a demand or requirement. By the time such requirements are met then a restoration process would have been achieved, meaning that all the full benefits that the payment has done will be enjoyed.

If had lost power, honor, glory, riches, wisdom and blessing, redemption meets the requirements, while restoration makes you enjoy them through Christ. Take for example your DSTV subscription has expired, you don’t wish for it to be restored, you pay for it to be restored. When you do the payment, you automatically have the right and access to watch whatever channel you have paid for. The payment is the redemption process, the excitement of laughter and intrigue or curiosity as you watch your favorite program is called restoration. Do we understand?

So, God is the God of restoration, that is a nature of God that can never be copied or emulated by the devil. The Bible says in John 10:10, the thief also talking about the devil, cometh not but to steal, to kill and to destroy, but Jesus said I have come that you may have life and have that life in abundance. The coming of Jesus in itself it the actual restoration agenda of God for the earth being carried out. See what the Scripture says in Joel 2:25; I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust and the chewing locust.  It is the same as saying that while your subscription expired, there were programs you missed, but because of the redemptive work, the process of payment, I will allow you watch all the programs that you have missed. That’s restoration.

This was God speaking here, no one has the prerogative right to restore other than God. Even the years that the destroyers have eaten up, God says it will be restored. The point I have been trying to make here is this; without proper partnership and alignment with the word and the Holy Spirit, it is difficult for restoration to become an experience. Whether it is a people, a destiny, a marriage or whatever the case may be. The Scripture says no one says restore. It is important to note that because the Bible says no one says restore does not mean that so many people are not wishing to bring or speak the word of restoration, and hope. But the truth is this; it is not enough to wish for restoration, it is not even enough to know that you need restoration, the problem is that many lack the ability to engage or partner with the Spirit in order to make that experience a reality.

Something happened in Exodus chapter 15 from verse 22, I want us to look closely at it, I perceive the Holy Spirit wants us to learn crucial lessons from it. The Scripture recorded that there was a bitter water when the children of Israel arrived at Marah so they couldn’t drink it. There was an experience they wished for, they could be thirsty, just like we saw in Isaiah, they could be ensnared in holes wishing for an experience, wishing for a satisfaction of their thirst, but the water was bitter meaning that it was undrinkable, it was unenjoyable. The best they could do was to complain about their predicament and circumstances. They cried to Moses a man, who could be limited in his own way. The Scripture says they complained against Moses “what shall we drink” what is the way out of our situation, how do we solve these problems. They cried to Moses rather than crying to God.

But see what the Scripture say in verse 25, “So Moses cried out to the Lord and the Lord showed him a tree” I want us to note two things very quickly as we proceed. The word says “Moses cried out” this is a word that sounds strange to the hearing of most leaders in our churches today, as long as the problem doesn’t bother them then there is no need to worry, there is no need to cry out to God or intercede on behalf of the people. But this is the lesson; are you humble enough to acknowledge your situation or state? There are lots of people who are confronted and are seated with the water of bitterness, yet continue to live in a state of denial, refusing to neither tell themselves the truth nor want to hear the truth. A state of the heart that is called heard heartedness, a heart of stone, which is neither responsive nor submissive to the will of God. And as long as that continues it may be difficult for you to find a way out. You must cry out first and foremost to God so that He can show you the way out. See what the Scripture say in 2 Chronicles 7:14, it says; “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

I want us to note those words very carefully. The people are God’s people, they are not unbelievers, they are not people that are strange to God, they are His people. They could be pastors, they could be servants of God, they could be preachers and teachers and are called by the name of God, as long as they cannot humble themselves, they will never get the help they require. So, we could see that humility, meekness, confession and acknowledging the fact that I need help to a God can offer help, is the way out. It is the first criteria for the people of God to be lifted and restored from their present predicament. God is not a respecter of persons and He does not cut corners. There is only one way He could hear and swing into actions. It is by humbling yourself and call upon His name and the necessary restoration will come. The word does not give light to the proud, it gives light to the simple, to the meek. In order words it gives deliverance to those hearts are postured correctly.

Another thing we must note is that there is always someone to cry unto in times of bitterness and unpalatable situations. For so many people, they haven’t yet discovered or they have not yet known who they must cry unto. Don’t forget that this peoples experience may be similar to what any of us could be going through. Things do not just get bitter for no reason, there must be a cause. The Scripture in Isaiah says no one says restore. Now we see a leader like Moses saying restore. How did he do that? He cried to God on behalf of the people.

Moses who was the leader quickly cried to the God of solutions and what God simply did was to show him a tree. When the children of Israel were in captivity in Egypt, what they did was to simply cry to God. how did I know that, God said to Moses; the cry of my people has reached My ears and I have come down to deliver them. Whom you cry to is very important. For so many leaders around the world, it is possible that God has been showing you a solution, it may be strange but because it is unusual you decide to discard, and so the problems of your people continue to perpetuate.

It is not enough to lead your people through the red sea, through difficult and challenging times, when God shows you a tree, a solution, a formula, will you quickly use it to treat your Marah? This was the same secret that was stated in John 3:16, God has shown mankind the way out of their Marah who is the person of Jesus Christ, but until we embrace Him, the solution that God has given to us, we would still be forcing ourselves to drink from the bitter water of the world simply because of unbelief. There is no doubt that the world is in a chaotic state, showing the state bitterness; but that Scripture says whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, whosoever believe in Him shall not taste the bitterness of Marah, the bitterness of the world, you may be in the wilderness of Shur, but not experience the life of wilderness, that was what Jesus meant when He said you are in the world but not of the world. When others are saying there is a casting down, you will say there is a lifting up.

See what the Scripture says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, it says; Therefore, if anyone, and I want us to note that. “Anyone” irrespective of your tribe, background or skin color, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the restoration work of God is already complete your responsibility is to accept, confess, believe and walk in Christ, just like God showed Moses the tree that will cure the bitterness of Marah, so also God is showing you Jesus who has the capacity to make your bitter water sweet again. Come and taste and see that the Lord is good. The moment you do that, you are free from bondage and the bitter waters the world has to offer. It says such a person is a new creation, old things are passed away, behold all things have become new. God said remember not the former things, the bitter experiences, He said behold; see the life I have to offer, see the tree of life, see I do a new thing, this experience is only possible in Christ.

Thanks for the gift of your time, Apeh Francis Abah!
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