Restoration
- Jilian Brown
- Oct 29, 2021
- 6 min read
And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends; and the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.
Then there came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they ate bread with him in his house; they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him; and each of them gave him a piece of money and a gold ring.
The LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand donkeys.
He also had seven sons and three daughters.
He named the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch.
In all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job's daughters; and their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers.
After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children, and his children's children, four generations.
And Job died, old and full of days.
Job 42:10-17
When I was at LSU, our A Cappella choir had the privilege of touring Europe one summer. While in Paris, we were honored to sing for a mass at Notre Dame Cathedral. It was one of the highlights of my singing career, not only to sing with a glorious chorus in a glorious cathedral with unbelievable acoustics, but also to sit in a space which was erected over a span of 200 years and in which people have worshipped for nearly 1000 years. I love the USA to be sure, but there is nothing like worshipping in the presence of antiquity in the cathedrals of Europe. I have also loved the idea of architecture as worship. It is perfectly acceptable to worship wherever two or more are gathered, but I am stirred toward a particular reverence in the dim colored light of stained glass and the soaring ceilings of grandeur toward which our heavenly voices are raised.
In 2019, I watched in sadness with the rest of the world as the news broadcast the tragic fire at Notre Dame. I think I actually cried, which if you know me is exceedingly rare. As I sat reflecting on this last week, something dawned on me. My parents have been in the moving process and my mom sent my sister and me pictures the other day of a Hymnal and Bible from our home church she was bringing for us. However, these are not ordinary relics. They are remnants that were recovered from a fire in our church when I was a kid. Up to that point, it was perhaps the most tragic experience of my young life. We were driving to the church for me to go to choir practice when we saw the smoke. I do not recall all the details now, but I do remember how difficult the following few years were as we all crammed into the Fellowship Hall for services and made do with whatever we could as far as facilities were concerned. Two beautiful churches--one I sang in once and one I sang in for 15 years--both up in smoke.
In the case of Job, I admittedly have avoided those passages in the lectionary this month as it is one of the most challenging stories in the Bible to make sense of. However, in this final chapter, it is a clear picture of the restoration available to the people of God. If you are not familiar with the calamities which Satan brought upon Job, revisit the first chapters of this book. It is gut-wrenching to read all that Job, a man who loved and served God, lost for seemingly no reason. When everyone around him told him to curse God or thought maybe it was his fault that everything happened, Job remained faithful. He trusted in the unfailing goodness of God even when such despair was allowed in his life.
What is striking to me in this final chapter is that Job received restoration at the moment he prayed for his friends. The same friends who turned their back on him and did not share his strength of faith. This is a picture of our Savior who pleads from the cross to “forgive them Father for They know not what they do.” Jesus tells us in the model of the Lord’s Prayer to ask God to “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” Forgiveness unlocks something in us. It is an ability to receive. There is something held in a knot when un-forgiveness is harbored which prevents restoration work from taking place. It is my experience that true forgiveness is like releasing a dam of God’s awaiting blessing and goodness that was unable to be received because of the wall erected in the soul.
Faithful Job "received twice as much as he had before" and "The LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning." The wrestle was worth the waiting. All things are either God-ordained or God-allowed. I do not believe God ever wants His children to suffer, but He stands outside of time and can see all that we can not see which lies ahead. Just as Jesus looked ahead, may we "(look) to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted." (Hebrews 12:2-3) Restoration brings a better ending than we can imagine, but sometimes we have to pass through the fire to get there.
FUMC Carlsbad was restored not to its original beauty, but to a far greater one. I remember the first time I stepped on the new wine colored carpet (chosen so Communion stains would never be a problem) and breathtaking new organ and envisioned my wedding there someday.
On May 27, 2006, that vision became a reality:
The restoration of this sanctuary led to many great days for the faithful in God's house. The plans for FUMC were not destroyed, but distributed differently than the congregation thought before that fateful day. This is the sanctuary where I learned to love the Bible, to hang on the words of sermons, and became a worship leader. The church was pressed, but not crushed, and saw better days after the fire than they could have imagined.
Notre Dame will be restored as well. The plans are for the project to be complete before the 2024 Summer Olympic Games are held in Paris. The iconic spire, which was ironically undergoing restoration when the fire occurred will be restored to its Gothic design (from the 19th century restoration).
As we get closer and closer to the restoration of all things, how can we be about restoration work in the kingdom of God? Restoration is not sitting around and waiting work, but actively building, reconstructing, often frustrating one step forward and two steps backward work. We can bring our complaints to God. He can handle it. He will also likely remind us of His God-ness as He did with Job. What relationships need to be restored? Forgiveness offered? What dreams need to be restored? Or is it your very soul? Like David in the 23rd Psalm, do you need to sing the reminder that the Lord alone is all that you need? This is one of my favorite worship songs I learned last year called "Restore My Soul" by New Wine Worship:
The chorus states:
Even when I'm lost in the deepest valley, I'll fear no evil
Even when the silence falls around me, I know You hear me
Even when it feels like we're separated, You're holding on to me
Perhaps the hardest thing for this period of history to understand is that our circumstances do not change the character of God. He has been about restoration since Genesis 3 and will continue to be until all things are made new. The exciting part is that He wants us to be a part of it, too. So, if you are in the valley right now, then it may be rest that is leading you toward your season of grand participation. Allow yourself to take it. However, if you are through the fire and ready to build something for the Kingdom, I can not wait to hear about what it is!
Citations and Resources:
* Caroline Goldstein and Katie White, "‘Our Lady of Paris Is in Flames’: Notre Dame’s Spire and Ceiling Collapse in Devastating Fire," Art World, April 15, 2019, https://news.artnet.com/art-world/paris-burning-notre-dame-cathedral-paris-catches-fire-1517254.
*Subikshaa Stalin, "10 Restoration projects by famous architects around the world," Rethinking the Future, https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/rtf-fresh-perspectives/a1893-10-restoration-projects-by-famous-architects-around-the-world/.
Recommended Reading:
I write these posts based off the Sunday Proper, but there are readings for each day you can find at the link.
Job 42:1-6, 10-17
Psalm 34:1-8, (19-22)
Jeremiah 31:7-9
Psalm 126
Hebrews 7:23-28
Mark 10:46-52
How beautiful you are Jil! And your writing is, as well. I love you and how you love God!
I loved this! I have been in Notre Dam as well and it was so beautiful. I have never thought about the fact that the blessing came when Job prayed for his friends, who were being pretty harsh with him. Thank you for this beautiful post!