Restoration begins the moment your world shatters and falls apart.

The moment the solid foundation you thought you had started to shake and confusion and chaos surrounded you. It was nothing but destruction and devastation no matter how hard you tried to hold it together, protect you what built and fight or what you believed in. You fought gallantly but to no avail as your efforts seemed to only make things worse.

It seemed as though a demolition crew was sent in to destroy your life, marriage, family and no one bothered to tell you. They left leaving you completely confused and utterly dazed over what just happened.

But, as someone who went through it, and speaking for many, many others that also went through it, I can tell you…….This was a blessing in disguise.

The restoration of your true self, your true purpose, started that day. The day the shaking happened was the day the scales began to fall away; the blindness and darkness started to lift. The day when you started to wake up!

 “Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you.”Ephesians 5:14

So many Standers were living in life truly asleep and not awakened to the love of God. To adoption, purpose and serving Him. Their spirits were groaning to know Jesus and be restored to Him. And over the months, weeks, years of the shaking, you were walking in restoration but never knew it. Crying out for something to come which was already happening.

In my distress I called upon the LORD and I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for His help reached His ears. Psalm 18:6 BSB

The years of you both being stripped, reshaped, retaught. The lies and deceptions you both fell for had to be taken away; the idols, false religion and beliefs.

Restoration is a beautiful thing. Layers upon layers of old are being scrubbed off. Years of wear and tear. Years of new colors are applied to hide the true beauty of what you were created to be.

Restoration began the day your Creator took you back from the world’s grip and started to apply the pressure of the iron to your layers. Stripping them one by one until He got down to the very layer HE made. To the true you.

Remove the impurities from silver, and the sterling will be ready for the silversmith. Proverbs 25:4 NLT

We don’t see this as we cry out, “God, where are you?” As He is stripping another layer off us. “Why won’t you do something?” And His hand steadily works only we don’t see it, understand it OR welcome it! We just know pain after pain as the layers come off.

Layers of self. Of unbelief. Rebellion and stubbornness. Layers of idols and lukewarmness.

We go through false starts and think restoration is finally here, only for it to be snatched away and we are left crying, “why did you let me be a fool and believe?”

God is saying, “you have always been in restoration. It’s just not what you thought it would be.” You are both in restoration to Him. Being restored to Him and delivered from the grip of the world. The path and approach are very different as you chose to cling to God and surrender, while your spouse chose to hand themselves over to the enemy to be snared and sifted as wheat.

“As I passed by again, I saw that the time had come for you to fall in love. I covered your naked body with my coat and promised to love you. Yes, I made a marriage covenant with you, and you became mine.” This is what the Sovereign LORD says. Ezekiel 16:8 BSB

The Stand is more than praying, hoping, and believing for a spouse to come home so you both can pick up where you left off and live happily ever after. God is after two hearts, minds, and souls who LOVE Him and are committed and serving Him.  It’s His love for us that brings the correction to help us obtain what He has purposed for us.

17 Blessed indeed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. 18 For He wounds, but also binds; He strikes,but His hands also heal. Job 5:17-18

Standing with you,
Sheila Hollinger