Repentance brings Restoration
God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? Numbers 23:19, ESV
I heard a speaker read the verse above in a message and it just caught my attention. King Balak of Moab saw the large number of Israelites that had come from Egypt across from his land. He sent for the prophet Balaam to bring a curse on the Israelites who were his enemies. When the prophet went before God to see if he could curse the Israelites, he was told he couldn’t curse them because they were a blessed people. Balaam reported this back to the King but he did not like the message and was persistent in having Balaam come to curse them.
After several request, Balaam finally went with the king’s men to the location of where the Israelites were. He told King Balak and his officials to offer sacrifices to God and he went before God on behalf of the king. When Balaam returned, the only message God gave was a blessing over the Israelites. King Balak was upset and chose another spot for Balaam to curse the Israelites. But when Balaam went before the Lord again, God respond with the verse above. God basically said, “I will not change my mind. What I have spoken I will do, so do not ask me again.”
I was so excited about this verse because a few days earlier I had asked God to restore the years lost from some mistakes my husband and I had made. God prompted in my spirit to pray the verse from Joel 2:25-26 which says, “And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.” I wanted to make sure I understood the verse and that I was not taking it out of context, so I went back and read several chapters in the book of Joel.
The children of Israel had disobeyed God and as a result, He brought punishment to them. The prophet Joel was sent to explain to them why they were receiving this punishment. In speaking to the people, he says what the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten. “Yet even now,’ declares the Lord, ‘return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.’ Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster” (Joel 2:12-13).
“Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God?” (Joel 2:14). Scriptures says that the people obeyed Joel and God restored everything to them and more.
Those same promises are for us today. We all have made mistakes that cause us to lose out on the blessings that were there for us. But God is saying if we repent, turn from our wicked ways, and obey Him, He will restore back to us what we have lost! Wow. I encourage you to read the book of Joel and Numbers 22-23. Your heart will indeed be lifted because our God watches over every word He has spoken, and He will perform it. Take Him at His word because He does what He says He will do.
Affirmations; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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