RESTORE.

     

      As you may remember, we are walking through Rebecca Lyons’ newest book, Rhythms of Renewal. The premise of the book is that there are rhythms that God created us to live by, and when we stay within those rhythms, we are a more full and healthy version of ourselves. Last week we focused on rest, and this week we move on to the second input rhythm of “restore.”

Lyons approaches this idea of restore from Isaiah 58:11-12:     

I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—
    firm muscles, strong bones.
You’ll be like a well-watered garden,
    a gurgling spring that never runs dry.
You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,
    rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You’ll be known as those who can fix anything,
    restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
    make the community livable again. (MSG)

Restore means to make new again, to take something that is old or worn or broken, and return it to where it is usable and has a purpose, although it may be a different purpose than what it originally had. At one point in my life I worked for Habitat for Humanity, and one my jobs was actually as the manager of the ReStore. It was a store where people would donate old house goods, furniture, and building supplies, and shoppers would come in and buy the product to use in their own homes or projects.

 One of my favorite events of the year was an art show we held, in which people used an item they found within the store and repurposed it into a piece of art. Every day, I watched hundreds of items come in to our store discarded and without a home or purpose, and every day I watched hundreds of items leave, now found, wanted, and on their way to bringing a new owner joy.

I fear too often we may feel like those discarded sofas or TV stands. We once were someone’s pride and joy, holding a place of prominence, but we have since lost our way, and may feel discarded and worn, and not sure what is ahead for us. This is why we, too, so desperately need restoration. When we think about the idea of restoration for us, we have parts of our life that need new energy. We have empty, broken places within that need fixing. Lyons mentions seven different activities that we can do to begin the process of restoration:

-      Permission to Play (Giving up Control)

-      Eat Smart (Brain Food)

-      Know Your Identity (Labels Don’t Define You)

-      Take a Walk (Clear the Brain Fog)

-      Seek Adventure (Take a Trip)

-      Break a Sweat (Use the Workout Pants)

-      Push Yourself (Move Beyond your Comfort Zone)

     She says that as we begin to play, nourish our bodies with healthy food and movement, and incorporate some new challenges, we once again begin to experience that abundant life that we may have been missing out on. There is no one way that we have to do this, nor are the activities listed above the only ways to restoration. The important thing is that once we have found the rest that we talked about last week, that we don’t just stay there. We need to move beyond a body and soul at rest to a body and soul that are in search of a full life, which can be found in making the most of the time and opportunities we have. My prayer for us this week is that we will challenge ourselves to walking at least one of these avenues to restoration, and that God reminds us of the amazing, full, important life that He has waiting for us!