2024: The Year of Reconciliation and Restoration

God is a God of relationship. We see that in His endless pursuit of us. So great was His love and desire for relationship with us, that He moved Heaven and earth to reconcile us to Him. Romans 5:8 and 10 says:

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.…For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” 

To reconcile is to cross the divide and bring back into relationship. What a glorious gift God gave us. In Christ, we have purpose and joy and peace not based on anything this world offers, but in a beautiful relationship with the Living God. As I drove to an appointment last week listening to worship music, I felt overwhelming gratitude for this connection with God. I felt such great joy in knowing that God is with me every moment and He loves me no matter what. I felt overflowing peace in my relationship with Him. It was such a powerful encounter with the Lord that I came home and shared this with my hubby and said “I don’t know how people live without Jesus. He is everything.”

AND… God has not only reconciled us to Him, He gifted us each with the “ministry of reconciliation.”

“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation…” 2 Corinthians 5:18

This means we’re called and empowered to unite others with God and one another. We do this of course by fulfilling the Great Commission and telling others about Jesus, but we also have to power to bring restoration and unity in every relationship in our lives. We were created to be a reflection of Jesus to others and in doing so we bring life and healing to those around us. What a powerful gift this is. As we see how important relationship is to God, first with Him; and then with others, we see even more clearly why this is the very area of our lives that satan targets? Relationships can bring the greatest joy to our lives and yet also the greatest pain. If you were to ask most people what their greatest heartache in life was, they would say it was in the area of their relationships. So many people are hurting and in despair over the brokenness of a one or more relationships. As pastors who hear the hearts of many on a regular basis, my husband and I see the pain and despair broken relationships bring to people. As I grieve for those God has called me to care for, I can only imagine how grieved the Father’s heart is to see His children suffering and separated from one another. BUT GOD! Just as He reconciled us to Him, He can bring reconciliation to our relationships. He is the God with whom all things are possible after all!!

For the last several months my husband and I have both been hearing in our hearts that God is going to bring healing and restoration to releationships this year. As I have leaned in to listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying and have asked Him as I usually do for a Word for the new year He has emphasized to me that this is going to be a year of reconciliation and restoration. Reconciliation is a beautiful thing, but God doesn’t stop there. He also wants to bring restoration. What’s the difference? While reconciliation brings us back to one another, restoration brings an upgrade to our relationships. To restore something is the return of something to a former, original, normal, or unimpaired condition. Maybe we’ve never had a healthy, unimpaired relationship, but don’t despair, because God wants to restore our relationships to what His Divine plan for them has always been. As the Lord spoke to me about this restoration He wants to do, He reminded me of Joel 2. At this time, the people of God were suffering. A great swarm of locust had come and eaten all their crops and they were in famine. All their hard work was for nothing. All that time toiling was wasted. And now they were living fruitless and hopeless lives. Maybe we can see how at times in our own lives we have strived in our own strength to make things happen only to end up in despair like this. Yet, it was in their desperation they cried out to God. They repented and appealed to God for mercy and He answered and made a beautiful promise to them:

“So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten… You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, And praise the name of the Lord your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you…

I encourage you to read Joel in its entirety and grasp hold of this promise and the truths God speaks in these passages of scripture. There are many deep truths I don’t have time to go into now, but I do want to mention in Chapter 2 verse 19 that God also said that He would send “new wine and oil” which represents the outpouring of His Spirit. This is a huge part of what God is doing in this season as we repent and return our hearts fully to Him. We need the Holy Spirit. I’ll say it again… WE NEED THE HOLY SPIRIT! But to stay on track with today’s message, know that the Lord CAN restore the years the locust has eaten, even in regards to our relationships. What a glorious promise from God. How many of us grieve over the time we’ve lost with those we love because of fractures in our relationships? How much time have we spent thinking about, working on, fighting over and crying for things pertaining to our relationships? BUT GOD!!! All of this may seem like a fantasy when you look at the current state of some of your relationships, but God wants us to begin to hope in Him for this promise. This is what a word from the Lord is meant to do. It’s meant to give us a picture of the way God sees things and what He wants to do in our lives so that we would begin to hope in Him and align our hearts with His purposes and plans. He wants us to partner with Him for the miracles in our lives. I’ve shared this before. It’s how God accomplishes the supernatural in our lives. And so I want to encourage you my friends, as that spark of hope ignites in your hearts, begin to tune into the voice of the Holy Spirit and discover how He is calling you to partner with Him this year for the reconciliation and restoration of your relationships.

Before I end, I want to share two strategies the Lord has given me for His people. As I said, I believe there will be more He wants to download to you personally in regards to your relationships, but these are two starting points for us all.

1. FORGIVENESS: Many of our relationships are the way they are because of hurts, and in order for healing to take place we must forgive. Here are some truths about forgiveness.

• Forgiveness is a command of God and hurts us when we choose not to forgive.
• Forgiveness it not a feeling. It’s an act of faith. We may not feel forgivenss but we choose to forgive because we know God calls us to and we want to obey the Lord. So by faith we confess forgiveness and release that person and all they did to the Lord.
• Forgiveness is not a one time action. Because we have feelings, we will need to release forgiveness to that person until our feelings line up with our spirit. This is as simple as confessing: I choose to forgive “so and so” in Jesus Name when we struggle in our emotions. Praying for those who hurt us is a powerful tool in walking in forgiveness.
• Forgiveness is not dependent on anything the other person does; whether they are sorry or not or whether they have changed or not. This is between us and God.
• Forgiveness is not acceptance of bad behavior or choosing to put ourselves in harms way. Forgiveness and reconciliation are two different things. Forgiveness frees us and the other person from the prison it bound both parties in spiritually. Forgiveness allows God to heal us, work in us, and eventually bring reconciliation.
• (Scriptures on forgiveness to study: Matthew 5:44-46, Matthew 6:14, Colossians 3:13, Matthew 18:21-22, Mark 11:25, Proverbs 17:9, Proverbs 10:12, Ephesians 4:32, Luke 6:37)

2. HEALING: God wants to bring healing to our relationships but it begins with us allowing to Him to heal our hurts first. So often we foucs on the other person and how they need to change, but God wants us to take our eyes off them and fix our eyes totally on Him and what He wants to do in our own hearts. It’s not our job to change others. It’s our responsibility however, to submit to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to heal and transform us. This is a daily process and it happens through an intimate relationship with the Lord. I have written much on inner healing as it’s been a life changing experience in my own life, so if you’d like to grow more in this area you can check out these blog posts HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE. Just click on thise hyperlinks. But whether you do or not, know this… God wants to bring reconciliation and restoration to your relationships. He wants to restore those years the locust has eaten. I believe and declare that in 2024 marriages that appeared over and done with will be restored and stronger than ever. Our God is able! I declare parents and children will be reunited to one another after years of conflict and separation and families will be restored. God is faithful! I declare brothers and sisters both natural and spiritual will move past offenses and grow and walk in love for one another becoming true ministers of reconciliation as we were called to be. God will restore our relationships and there’s no limit to what He can and will do as we choose to walk in forgiveness and submit our hearts to Him. Hallelujah!

A quick word of warning: It may not be easy, and you may feel discouraged at times, but remind yourself that God’s grace is sufficient. It may not look better at times and even worse in some moments, but stand on the word of the Lord and His promises to you. Don’t take the bait of satan when you’re tempted to be offended, lash out, or just give up. Go back to your prayer closet – in fact run there again and again and forgive and submit to the Lord and the deep work He wants to do in YOU. Know that God loves that other person too and He’s at work in their lives too. Put them back in God’s hands and stay focused on your relationship with the Lord. He is God all by Himself and He will do what needs to be done. All we have to do is trust and obey. God is forever faithful! So together, let’s watch and see what the Lord does and by next year in Jesus Name we will be rejoicing and declaring to all “LOOK WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE!!!!”

Well, my friends, that’s all for now, but I am linking my latest Hope for Today video below because it’s all about RELATIONSHIPS!! I get real with some experiences from my own relationships and a few of the things God has taught me in regards to having healthier ones. I pray it encourage you. God bless you!