Writing every day during Lent is exhausting and yet exhilarating too. God is so faithful and constantly gives me what He wants me to say. The list of for the names of God, from the Bible Recap program, that I was using as my springboard still has names remaining in addition to others that I’ve added. I plan to continue blogging on the names of God as I find it so reassuring and it brings hope and light to my life. I pray it does the same for you.

The name I’m going to start with this time is Adonai Meshiv or The God who Restores. There are so many passages in scripture where God promises restoration to the Israelites and to us as New Testaments believers. God can and does restore health like He did for Mariam in Numbers 12:10 “When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.” Moses and Aaron both pleaded with the Lord for her restoration and God relented in 12:13-15 “And Moses cried to the Lord, “O God, please heal her—please.” ¹⁴ But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut outside the camp seven days, and after that she may be brought in again.” ¹⁵ So Miriam was shut outside the camp seven days, and the people did not set out on the march till Miriam was brought in again.”

God can and does restore fortunes and when the Israelites would humble themselves and walk in obedience God would bless them with restoration. Deuteronomy 30:2-4 “and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, ³ then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. ⁴ If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you.”

In Psalm 23:3 David reminds us that God can restore our sick, sad, lonely and longing souls. “He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” In Psalm 51:12 David shows God’s power of restoration over our emotions and feelings as He can and will restore our joy and give us a willing spirit. “Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.“

In the New Testament, Jesus was a major restorer of sight, crippled limbs, and health both emotional and physical! Each miracle was a demonstration of God’s restorative powers. Mark 8:25 “Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.”

1 Peter 5:10 speaks of the final glorious restoration we will all receive from our Lord and Savior. “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”

How has God restored you? Has He healed you physically or emotionally? Has He reversed your fortunes and blessed you with abundance? Has He restored your joy and given you a greater appreciation of your salvation? Because Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead, I can count of God’s restorative powers in my life if I humble myself and seek His restoration. He is faithful! He desires to restore each of us.

Linda