Restore Me This Instant!

What restores you?

An escape into the serenity of nature? Connecting with others? A day at the spa? Being doted on by your family? 

Whatever it is, you may be picturing a relaxing, even blissful experience.

Now leave your wonderland behind and walk with me to another scene. 

Arriving at the base of your favorite trail, you’re surprised to find not the usual greenery, but instead… black. Burned, charred tree stumps. Ash, rock, dust and debris. It’s ugly. The farther up the trail you climb, the more devastation you see. None of it promising; all of it bleak. 

Multiple signs strapped to the orange plastic fencing surrounding the controlled burn read, simply:

“Vegetation restoration in progress.”

Restoration, really? Black stumps instead of green leaves? Horizonal rubble instead of vertical life? No more breath. Utter silence. Wiped out color. How can these mean anything but death? And how can death be anything but the end?

And yet, the sign says something is happening. Progress is being made. Restoration is taking place.

Indeed, high school science lessons remind you that controlled burns take place for a reason. Fire and destruction rage for the day, ash and rubble rule for the next. And the next. And the next. For what seems like forever, everything is still, quiet and barren. The naked eye, restrained by time and perspective, is blind to the reality that something is happening...

The blazing fire released a seed. And from that seed, curious roots. From these roots, ground will break. Tender greenery will stretch skyward. Plants will flourish. Young animals will come. Life of every kind will multiply, unstoppable.  

Are you experiencing a controlled burn in your life? Are ash and debris your inner landscape? What if, in the depths and lengths of your pain and devastation, something beautiful is happening? Something far beneath your own awareness. Something like complete restoration.

"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. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen." — 1 Peter 5:10-11

"Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!" — Psalm 31:24

“…to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. They will … restore the places long devastated.” — Isaiah 61: 2-4