Everyone battles things throughout their lives. No one escapes the plethora of problems that this world dishes out. A current example is how Hurricane Helene has wreaked havoc on the Southeast United States. Many people have lost their lives or have had their lives turned upside down by it. Other examples are Illnesses, job loss, accidents, even aging, they all can cause you to feel like you are going backwards in life rather than forward.
Troubling times tend to cause you to look at life from a different perspective. You try something new to get a better response to what you are facing. Often you may get a quick, positive response while other times you don’t. Either way, God allows for His children to face adversities. Why? So you learn to stop looking to worldly ways and let God restore you in ways that better suit you.
In 2 Kings 8:1-6, you learn how God is your restorer of things this life has robbed you of. There was a famine in Israel that caused hardships for its people. God was allowing them to endure a famine for their idolatry. Before the famine hit, Elisha, a prophet of God, had told a mother and her son to move to a nearby land to escape the severity of the famine. She listened and resided in another land for seven years.
Elisha had a special bond with this woman and her son. Read 2 Kings 4:8-37 to see how God used Elisha powerfully with her son. God revealed Himself in such a way that helped this woman trust Elisha now when he spoke of a famine coming. Elisha was a picture of Jesus coming to raise the dead back to life!
For seven years, this mother and her son had to leave their home and live in a foreign land. When they could return, she remained hopeful that the king would restore to her her household and land that she left behind. Unbeknownst to her, God, the beautiful Restorer, had her life in His hands. Before she arrived to talk to the king, the king wanted to hear stories about Elisha and God from Elisha’s servant. It so happened that the servant shared the story of Elisha from 2 Kings 4. At that very moment, the mother and her son walked in to see the king. Oh, how God orchestrates all things for His glory and our good!
The king probably would have had a hard time believing the story of Elisha helping a dead boy come back to life, but there he was standing right in front of him. The mother confirmed that the story was true. The king’s response, “See that everything she had lost was restored to her, including the value of any crops that had been harvested during her absence.”6
This is wonderful news for every believer. God will restore what once was lost. God constantly prepares you with hardships of any kind so you will learn to receive good things from His hands. He has to help you refocus your eyes off of yourself and onto Him. He has to hone your hearing so you learn to hear His voice over all others. He has to change the way you think. Your mind needs an overhaul where you trust God’s truth over your fleshy thoughts; see Romans 12:2. In Ephesians 3:20, it says, “Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”
It doesn’t matter what you are facing, God will restore you. It doesn’t matter what you have lost, God will restore you. He is the Provider who gives immeasurably for His love is just that big! You see this throughout the whole Bible. God never forsakes anyone who walks in obedience to Christ. You may reject Him by living unresponsive to the Good News, and that makes for a very sad story, but He will never reject you.
In the midst of your pain, despair, confusion, even fearful times, it’s hard to see the hand of God. In these times, get yourself in the pages of God’s Word and talk with God. He is with you and He is helping you to move forward to better days. He is in the business of restoring what sin has taken away and how Satan is doing everything he can to keep you from believing and trusting God. Whatever you face, stay the course with God! Do not give up!
Believe like this woman that you read about. She believed wholeheartedly and God responded in her favor. Obedience and perseverance go along way with the Almighty, Living God.
Carol J German 