The Restoration Project

“Hurry up and go to Facetime!” my sister texted. “The graduation ceremony is about to begin!”

I joined the rest of the family living in different parts of the world and proudly watched my niece Adriana receive her degree in Art. Her ability to draw, paint and create with her hands in such beautiful way is a gift we discovered since she was a little girl.

“She’ll apply to graduate school and work in a museum in art restoration and conservation,” her mom explained.

Embarrassed to confess my ignorance before a dozen family members, I looked up the difference. According to Britannica.com:

Art restoration denotes the repair or renovation of artworks that have already sustained injury or decay and the attempted restoration of such objects to something approaching their original undamaged appearance.

The term art conservation denotes the maintenance and preservation of works of art and their protection from future damage and deterioration.

That got me thinking about God’s promise of restoration in the Bible.

Just like pieces of art throughout time, we suffer injury through life’s traumas, hurts and sin. Our peace, joy and faith get buried underneath the pain and our heart becomes hardened with fear, rejection, bitterness, anger, unforgiveness and much more.

We forget how to laugh and how to enjoy life and we suffer spiritually, mentally and physically.

But God, the Master Restorer, repeatedly offers us hope even when there seems to be none.

The Bible tells us that God, who is full of grace, the one who called you to his eternal glory in union with the Messiah, will himself restore, establish and strengthen you and make you firm. 1 Peter 5:10 CJB

God lovingly offers us spiritual restoration which includes physical, mental, and emotional healing.

He’s patiently waiting for us to open our hearts to Him and allow Him to remove the layers of lies, insecurity, doubt and unbelief that have stolen our identity in Him and return us, His masterpieces, to His plan, described in Jeremiah 29:11

For I know what plans I have in mind for you,’ says ADONAI, ‘plans for well-being, not for bad things; so that you can have hope and a future. CJB

 Thankfully, we don’t have to wait for someone to get a master’s degree to help us.

Jesus died on the cross and paid the ultimate price so that we could have access to that and much more in an instant.

We don’t need submit a long application for His assistance either.

All we need is to say: JESUS, I NEED YOU.

I invite you to give it a try.

PS- The Master Restorer doesn’t stop here. Join me next week for the rest of the story!