I had mapped out what I would write tonight when I sat down with tears in my eyes, I had a plan. Yet as I started to write, everything I could think of just didn’t quite gel. So, I paused as one thought swirled around in my head over and over.  I’m not alright. You see I realize now I’m not alright, maybe on this side of heaven I’ll never be completely alright, but I understand now that it’s ok to not be alright.  It’s ok to not be perfect or have it all figured out, because we are in process. Let me dive deeper into this thought.

Recently, God has been working in me to heal and restore me.  Well, he’s been working on me all my life. Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever watched YouTube videos. My sons love them and love to have me watch the videos with them.  One of the channels we enjoy is this show called “Rust and Restore.” It’s a restoration show as the name implies. It’s interesting and oddly therapeutic watching a dilapidated rusted old mechanical item being completely restored to a fully functional, beautiful, and just as good as new object. It is time lapsed so you see in minutes what took a long time to complete.

There is a parallel in our Christian life to this very process. It’s the process of restoration.  The healing and restoration that God has been working in me my whole life is very much like the project that the man shows on his channel. There are parallels. First, it’s a complete restoration. You see he doesn’t just take an old item that’s rusted and dented and quickly bang out a few of the dents and cover it with paint. That’s not true restoration. If he were to do that all the corrosion and rust would seep through the new paint and none of the connections and broken parts on the inside would work properly.  Truthfully, the quick method is the one many of us take when it comes to personal restoration. We want the quick easy fix. To look good from the outside. However, the quick fix is insufficient to truly restore anything to newness and wholeness again, including you and me.  Instead of a quick fix or patch job, he carefully takes apart each piece noting where it went and what it did.  Then he carefully works to repair and restore the item one piece at a time.

This brings me to my second parallel, it takes time. On the video even though it is time lapsed you can clearly see that this is a process that takes a significant amount of time. He restores piece by piece, painstakingly, and loving each part. For us this means a life time. So we should expect the process to be a life long restoration job done one piece at a time. That phrase “piece by piece” is one of my favorite lines from an amazing and true song. It is a song I consider to be my personal testimony, “Clean” by Natalie Grant.  It declares “And you’re helping me to believe, because you’re restoring me piece by piece.”  I’ve heard it, I’ve sang it, and I declared it, but I did not understand what this meant till now.  It meant that God’s restoration work on me would be a lifelong restoration project.  That piece by piece takes time.  I will not be all better quickly or ever be completely restored here on earth, although I want to be.  The struggle and restoration will continue all my life.  Sure, some parts maybe restored, but as a whole I will not be fully restored till glory.  I can be at peace and rest in confidence knowing that my maker is working on me still while I’m in process.

Finally, the last parallel is that the show remind me that every piece must be restored differently. The man who restores doesn’t repair each part in the same manner.  The pieces need different treatment depending on what’s wrong, what they are composed of, and their sturdiness or lack thereof. I’ve seen him put some parts in a bath that eats corrosion and rust away, while other time he sandblasts it. I’ve seen some that he just takes a toothbrush looking implement and rubs off the rust, while others he has this filing machine that powerfully files away the old paint and damage. Sometimes he uses materials to fill holes, or even replaces parts that are not restorable. Here’s my point, not every piece can be treated the same way in order to restore it.  Some parts require a delicate hand while others require strength and force.  The master restorer knows how to properly restore each part to protect against destroying the part or damaging it irreparably in the process.  With his expertise, he can restore the item, through varied treatments. It is no different when God works to restore us piece by piece.  

We must trust him through the process.  He is faithful to complete the work in us.  He is also wise enough to choose the correct methods for our various parts. He is strong enough to complete the work, he doesn’t get tired and quit.  He is not weary of doing whatever it takes to restore us lovingly.  He’s diligently working to bring about complete wholeness in all of us who are willing to submit ourselves to him. Even greater is the knowledge that in his eyes, We are already whole. It amazes me that he’s not frustrated with the process like I am. He is kind enough, faithful, and discerning enough to know how to go about accomplishing our redemption and restoration and seeing it through to completion.  

Yes, you and I are in process, the process of full restoration. Are you brave enough to let God keep working? Can you trust God to do the work in you? Can we give yourself grace and understand that you are not there yet? It really is alright to not be alright, when you are in the master restorer’s hands.