What is the first step in restoration?
Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14, NLT
Watching relationships in our life fall apart is devastating. Even if we are carrying our own hurt in the situation, there is a desperation that starts to take hold: “How do I fix this?”
It can be tempting to start cycling through solutions instead of the one thing that is always the beginning of restoration: humility and seeking God.
Our human efforts at restoration will take twice as much effort with half the results (at best). With God, we can see things much more clearly. We can see the other person more clearly from a place of humility and love. That’s what God gives us when we seek him.
And when we ask and wait, God will, in time when we’re ready, give us the solution we need for restoration. We can’t rush it. Often it includes seeing our role in the problem. I don’t know about you, but that’s the hardest part for me by far. I try not to skip that part.
ACT
Take a plain piece of paper. Crumple it up and then try to make it crisp and flat again. Think about how only God can give us the fresh start we need.
pray
God, I’ve had my place in relationship messes. In those places I desire restoration, help me to seek you first.