“Restoring the Tents of Jacob” by Melanie Rigney
Thus says the LORD: See! I will restore the tents of Jacob, his dwellings I will pity; City shall be rebuilt upon hill, and palace restored as it was. From them will resound songs of praise, the laughter of happy men. I will make them not few, but many; they will not be tiny, for I will glorify them. His sons shall be as of old, his assembly before me shall stand firm; I will punish all his oppressors. His leader shall be one of his own, and his rulers shall come from his kin. When I summon him, he shall approach me; how else should one take the deadly risk of approaching me? says the LORD. You shall be my people, and I will be your God. (Jeremiah 30:18-22)
The Lord will build up Zion again, and appear in all his glory. (Psalm 102:17)
Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" (Matthew 14:29-31)
Piety
Jesus, restore me.
Study
This portrait is of my great-grandmother Abigail Leane Rigney, taken by one of my great-aunts around 1910. (And yes, that’s me taking the picture in the background, sorry.) The family wasn’t well to do by any means, but photos of Debbie Abbie, my great-grandfather, and my grandfather were made into those trendy-in-the-day raised portraits with convex glass frames.
A family member found all three portraits in a sheep shed in the 1970s. That’s right, a sheep shed. They were unprotected from the sheep and the elements. No one knows how they got there or when. Abbie’s portrait fared the worst; it was torn in two places and was spotted with mold and who knows what else. So, when the portraits came into my possession in the late 1980s, I had her professionally restored to the condition you see here. It’s not exactly like the original, but it’s a big improvement from the way it looked before restoration, and I’m betting that it’ll hold up another thirty years or more.
Spiritual restoration works that way too. The peace we feel after being buffeted around by doubt and temptation and all the Evil One serves up to us isn’t the same peace we felt before the troubles began. We’re richer in belief and trust, confident that the next storm will not seem quite so bad because we know He is with us through it all, whether it’s a medical crisis, death in the family, employment disappointment, or maybe just a bad day in ministry. As we grow in our dependence on the Lord, we find ourselves restored… and closer and closer to Him.
Action
Pray for the faith to let the Lord remove the gunk as He restores you to the condition He desires.
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