Obedience The Key to Restoration

A ll of us at some point have lost something during our lives. In some cases we have recovered what it is that we lost while in other cases we did not recover. It is always human desire, though, to recover what we have lost in life, but God decides how our recovery will take place. While some have recovered through supernatural ways without taking part in what God is doing, but being recipients of the restoration, for others God desires to work with us to bring this desired restoration in the different areas of our lives such as salvation, finances, relationships, dignity, identity, investments, and the list could go on and on. When He opts to work with us, God will require total obedience. And when He gives instructions, He expects us to follow those instructions in detail. It is impossible for God to restore us when we live in disobedience and rebellion. The key to our restoration is total obedience.

When people attack us for no reason at all, it angers God and He may decide to deal with such people in the process of restoring us. That though, is at His desecration. It is not us to tell Him how to deal with our enemies, or whether, indeed He should deal with them at all or not. Our journey to heaven is ours alone, not ours with our enemies.

A good example in the bible is Job who lost everything he had, but God restored. According to the bible, in spite of what he went through, Job did not sin against God.

In this scripture, God told Saul to attack and totally destroy the Amalekites and everything that belonged to them, because they (The Amalekites) had ambushed the children of Israel when they were on their way from Egypt to the Promised Land.   What was Saul response?

1. He allowed the Kenites to get away to avoid being destroyed, which was good because the Kenites had shown kindness to the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt.
2. On the other hand, Saul spared Agag, the King of the Amalekites and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good.   God had told him to destroy them all, but he failed to do so.

This displeased the Lord and as a result, instead of Saul being restored, God rejected him as King and instructed the Prophet Samuel to go and anoint David in his stead.   Sadly, in his defense, Saul tells the prophet that he spared the choice animals so he could sacrifice those to God.  How many times do we sin against God or even against each other, then justify?    Disobedience is bad enough, but to justify disobedience is gross.  In response here is what Samuel said to Saul:-

Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has rejected you as king.

It gets even worse because when Samuel was looking for Saul, he had gone off and built himself a monument, instead of honoring God for the victory, he seemed to be honoring himself. We can not share in God’s glory.
The key to our restoration is obedience to God and honoring Him. We cannot share in His glory.

As we seek for God to restore us in the different the areas of our lives, it is important that we obey completely and take into account all the detailed instructions we receive from Him.
The bigger picture though, is that we should seek to be restored for eternity. Whatever we do with our lives here on earth, aids in preparing our homes in heaven. The material used, if any, to build our homes in eternity have everything to do with our work and walk here on earth. Are you building your home in heaven? Or better still have you decided where you will spend your eternity.

When God tells you to do away with all your past, do not say, but that girl is so cute I will remain with her. Do you think God does not have other beautiful women to give you? God expects us to obey his instructions and, in some cases, make a clear break with the past and thus refuse to compromise.
Job fully obeyed and honored God who asked him (Job) to pray for his friends (enemies) so He could restore them. Soul, on the other hand, was told to destroy his enemies.