Restoring the Covering

I was saddened to hear recently that the home of Elizabeth Gaskell, the Victorian novelist and social reformer, which had been patiently restored by volunteers who had spent much time raising funds and working on the restoration, had been vandalised. Apparently thieves had broken in and over a period of three or four days had removed the lead roofing, and in order to get to the roof they had trashed a great deal of the interior. Sadly the rain had also got in and the house is now in a worse state than it was when the restoration work began, and will take some millions of pounds to restore again.

It reminded me of how important our covering is. God provides covering for His children and when it is properly in place, we are safe and protected, but there are times when we become uncovered and the enemy is able to get in and begin creating havoc.

How is this able to happen? Mainly because of sin, either ours or the sin of those who should be providing our covering under God. So, for example, if there is sin in the leadership of a church, that church will become ‘uncovered’ and it may be that the sin in the leadership spreads among the congregation. Or perhaps in a family, where God provides our parents as covering under Him, should they sin, our covering will become full of holes, like a leaky umbrella, and problems arise in the family.

For the covering to be restored recognition of sin, confession and repentance before God is necessary, and also forgiveness of those whose sin caused the damage. Healing will need to take place in the lives of those whose covering has been broken. Where children have grown up under leaky covering, the damage can be deep, but God is able to restore.
God has a vision for each of us, His children, whom He has known since before the time of creation. ‘Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will’ (Ephesians 1:4-5). He’s able to restore each of us to that original vision of His, patiently and over time, as we allow Him to work in us.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, Thank You that You have known me since before the beginning of time and that You can and will patiently restore me. Today, I reaffirm the Lord Jesus as my Saviour, Healer and Deliverer, and look to Him to bring about my restoration through the gentle ministry of the Holy Spirit. Thank You, Lord, Amen.