Dear God Who Restores

You are the God of comfort. You look with compassion on my ruins.

My life feels shattered (hopeless, even?) But you are a God who takes deserts and wastelands and turns them into gardens like Eden. What a promise. 

So here I am—in the brokenness of my life, my story, my marriage, my family—asking you to take all of these shards and splintered pieces and make something beautiful. Use these ashes for your glory and my good. 

Wastelands into gardens! O Restorer, only you can accomplish such an impossible task. 

You could choose to start from scratch, but that doesn’t seem to be the way you work. My brokenness is the fertile ground in which you set to work. These ashes are the substance that you use to create beauty. You bring forth life where the world tosses aside, tosses out. Your vision extends into eternity. You hold the bigger picture. You hold my story. 

Not only do you bring beauty, but you bring purpose. This garden you are growing in the ruins of my life will bring forth fruit. It will feed and nourish others. It will bear seed for future generations. It will show your handiwork, provision, gentle care and sustaining touch. Your glory will shine as blooms burst forth. 

You have not—will not—give up on me. You finish what you start. You bring restoration in full. You don’t quit halfway through in the messy middle. You will carry out your good plans for me. 

(O Restorer, increase my trust. Increase my belief. Help me know this promise is true.)

As you set your hands to this work, let praise grow inside my heart. Grow joy, gladness, thanksgiving. Let new songs of praise be on my lips as you set to work restoring me. I set my eyes forward to the glorious day when life will sprout from these ashes. Like snowdrops abloom in the dead of winter. Only you can do it. And while I see so little growth, I choose to trust you in the meantime. Amen.

—Based on Isaiah 51:3—
The Lord will surely comfort Zion
and will look with compassion on all her ruins;
he will make her deserts like Eden,
her wastelands like the garden of the Lord.
Joy and gladness will be found in her
thanksgiving and the sound of singing.