There are prominent ideas within the Christian faith that are frequently discussed and may seem clear to us at first. Yet when we truly consider how to apply these concepts to our lives, they are not always easy to understand. Restoration is one of these concepts. What does godly restoration mean, and what does God’s Word have to say about this in the life of a believer?

As I press into this space and attempt to consider restoration in accordance with God’s Word, my mind immediately turns to Job. God allowed everything that Job had to be taken from him: his children, his wealth, his health. The life he loved was totally erased in a series of horrific, God-ordained tragedies. Yet at the end of the book of Job, we see that God restores to Job what was lost, twofold. He gives him ten more children and twice as much wealth as he had before. An excellent picture of restoration and a happy ending to a tragic story, right? Or maybe not.

Consider God’s Servant, Job

The story of Job shows us a partial picture of restoration. To restore something is to return it to its former condition. It’s about replacing what was lost, and the goal is often for it to be as good, if not better, than it was before.

In Western culture, the hope is that God’s restoration will look like a one-for-one. You lost one job, but you got an even better one. You faced financial ruin, but God replaced that with even more wealth. You were sick, but God healed you to a place of even greater health. You lost a relationship but found something even sweeter. We hope that God will restore the things we’ve lost and give us even more than we had before. Often, our understanding of restoration seems to center around tangible, measurable things. Is this the restoration the Bible actually talks about?

If we only consider restoration along the lines of the tangible or measurable, then it’s easy to see God’s restorative work in the losses we endure. What about things, however, that are not so easily measured? What does restoration look like when loved ones die? Does it mean we have not experienced God’s restoration when the things we desire to be restored are not?

I used to read the end of Job’s story and naively assume that all became right in his world. Yes, much was lost, but God restored double to him. Surely he must have lived out the rest of his days with ease and joy. However, I imagine that everything he lost was still part of his story. He was a changed person because of what he walked through. Simply replacing the tangible, measurable pieces of his life that were lost does not represent full restoration.

True Restoration

Could it be that true restoration—at least here on earth—is more about how we are changed through the things God allows us to experience? What if restoration involves having a deeper understanding of and affection for God, and any tangible gain we obtain is just an added mercy in the process? What if the restoration of God does not have as much to do with what was lost as it does with how we are changed through the loss?

Job was changed through his suffering. He experienced a profound and deepening trust in who God was. Job grew in his understanding of God’s power and might. Job never received an answer to any of the questions of why God allowed such tragedy in his life. Rather, God’s answer to Job’s questions was simply to reveal more of himself. Job was humbled through his experiences. He became a more contrite worshiper of God. He became a man less concerned about his goodness and more concerned about his holiness. He became a man content with the sovereignty of God, even when he didn’t understand his ways. He began to value the things that God valued more and more. We can see even a small glimpse of this in the last chapter of Job. His daughters (not his sons) are named in the text and then given an inheritance, which was culturally radical at the time. God has always deeply valued and championed women. Now Job does the same.

God’s restoration is not simply about receiving lost possessions or relationships or even living fuller lives. If we believe that the restoration we see in Job’s life was about God giving him children and wealth once again, I think we have misunderstood godly restoration, or at the very least, not understood it fully. Job’s greatest restoration was a restored relationship with God. If that is the case for Job, I think it’s the same for us, too.

Restored Hope

As I pray about restoration and what it means for me, I have realized that it will not necessarily look like receiving time or people or resources. While this can certainly be a part of God’s mercy, the process of restoration is more about considering how God has changed me because of what he has allowed in my life.

Have I begun to better understand who God is through the roads I have walked? Have I, like Job, become more humble and contrite in spirit due to loss? Have I become less concerned about being good and more enamored with becoming holy? If so, then I think I can say with confidence that I see the restoration of God at work. The painful loss that I have endured at the hands of God has stripped me of loving this world. It has increased my affections for Christ and the work he did on my behalf, dying on the cross to restore me to the Father.

Restoration is Coming

If I’m honest, despite seeing changes in myself and my understanding of God, I often wish restoration were different. I wish it meant that everything was made right, that loss was restored one-for-one. I wish I could see it today, understand it today. 

One day, this will be true. For now, however, “we see in a mirror dimly” (1 Cor. 13:12). We cannot see God clearly. We cannot understand his ways. We can see glimpses of restoration that can feel more like placations than answers. One day, however, we will see him face-to-face, and when we do, our restoration will be complete. Some of the last words of the Bible are from Jesus, promising, “Behold, I am making all things new” (Rev. 21:5). I’m thankful for this hope of restoration.