Restoration through Relationships
‘But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds, declares the LORD, ‘because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.’ This is what the LORD says: ‘I will restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents and have compassion on his dwellings; the city will be rebuilt on her ruins, and the palace will stand in its proper place. From them will come songs of thanksgiving and the sound of rejoicing. I will add to their numbers, and they will not be decreased; I will bring them honor, and they will not be disdained. Their children will be as in days of old, and their community will be established before me; I will punish all who oppress them.’
(Jeremiah 30:17-20)
About two years ago, I attended School of the Word (SOTW) Bible college in Cardiff. A couple from the church promised to support me financially throughout the duration of my course, sending me a monthly allowance. This was such a blessing to me throughout my stay in Cardiff.
On a particular occasion, the couple sent me two months’ worth of allowance in one go. However, I somehow managed to misplace the money. I searched for it everywhere; I turned my room upside down and the right way round, but could not find it anywhere. Finally, I gave up and considered the money lost.
Recently, two years after I completed SOTW, another couple who were on the same course contacted me on Facebook. They had found an envelope in the middle of a book I had borrowed from them, and in the envelope was the money I had considered lost. They sent it to me through a friend who happened to be in Wales at the time.
I was obviously excited and in my joy, God spoke to me, saying: “I am a God of Restoration and I will restore to you what you have considered lost and given up on. I would resurrect my promises in your life that you may have given up on. In my restoration, I will also bring new things from my heart of love to you.”
God told me one of the ways he intends to do this is through relationships. He said: “It is through the relationships you have made amongst the community of my people that I will restore these things to you. These relationships would be a channel through which my grace would flow to you.”
My purpose in writing this testimony is to encourage you to give yourself to building relationships with God’s people. As we have been encouraged in recent months, one of the ways to do this is by being part of Church in the Homes.
God restored something I thought was lost, using two relationships in my life:
• The couple who found the money in the book
• The friend who happened to be in Wales at the time
I believe the relationships we make as we give ourselves to Church in the Homes will become a channel through which God’s grace would flow to us. It will, as in Jeremiah 30:17-20:
• Restore our individual tents
• Increase us and make us significant
• Restore our children
Oladapo Owo
