As Good as New
by Malcolm Wood
I’ve recently had work done on our car to remove a small dent and scratches from the front wing body work. On previous cars, I’ve carried out work like this myself, but never been completely satisfied with the results of my attempts. This time, as the vehicle was a little newer than the one before, we thought it would help to maintain the newer appearance of the car if we had the work done by a car body specialist repairer. We weren’t disappointed. The repaired area is as good as new!
In life, we get damaged. The causes of our hurts can be many and varied, and can affect us in any of the following areas of our being, emotions spirit and body. This damage, discomfort or dis-ease may be caused by the way we’ve been treated, or are being treated by others, or by the circumstances surrounding where we live or work. We may have caused hurt to ourselves as a result of making wrong choices in the way we’ve responded to the challenges that we encounter.
So often we try to rectify the problem ourselves, and seek ‘remedies’ and ‘repairs’ in all sorts of areas to bring relief to our discomfort. Although we may discover something which may seem to ‘fix’ the problem for a while, after a time, or another ‘bump’, we’re dissatisfied with the result, and have to address the problem again.
Shouldn’t we be seeking specialist attention from the Lord Jesus who says ‘Come to me all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11:28)? After all, He made us and knows all about us. The psalmist could say ‘You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb’ (Psalm 139:13). The Lord knows what’s required to put us right. He promises that, if we return to Him, He’ll restore us, so we can continue to serve Him (Jeremiah 15:19). He says ‘I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts’ (Isaiah 57:15).
There’s plenty of evidence in Scripture to show that God is very much into restoration, and making things, and people, new. So, let’s take Him at His word and trust Him to make things new in our lives, and prove Him to be ‘an ever-present help in trouble’ (Psalm 46:1). Then we’ll be able to say, with the psalmist, ‘He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honour to his name’ (Psalm 23:3).
Prayer: Dear Lord, please forgive me for not always seeking You first and trying to solve problems in my own strength and my own way. Please help me to trust You more, and allow You to have Your way in my life to bring about the restoration that will bring honour to You. Amen.
Malcolm Wood and his wife Anna became part of the Ellel family as House Managers at Ellel Grange in 1990. Since then they have been involved with many aspects of the developing Ministry. From 2001 until 2015 they were Directors of Ellel Scotland where they hosted several International Schools and Operation Blairmore and helped pioneer the exciting Creative Inspiration Weeks. They have three sons.
Please feel free to use this devotional to send on to your friends or share with your church fellowship. Provided full acknowledgement is made to Seeds of the Kingdom as the source, you are also welcome to use it in a non-commercial way and reproduce it in magazines or other Christian websites. The copyright for any commercial use of the material remains with Ellel Ministries International.
