Restoring Me Piece by Piece
It’s been a while. Probably too long since I’ve taken the time to write....
But, since there’s a hurricane passing by, I’ve got some time and some words to share.
We all go through less than ideal circumstances. If we were honest with each other, a more accurate description would be something like Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9
We are hedged in (pressed) on every side [troubled and oppressed in every way], but not cramped or crushed; we suffer embarrassments and are perplexed and unable to find a way out, but not driven to despair; We are pursued (persecuted and hard driven), but not deserted [to stand alone]; we are struck down to the ground, but never struck out and destroyed.
This life is not for the faint of heart. Thankfully, those of us who belong to Christ live with Heaven in sight. BUT, we don’t have to wait until Heaven literally comes down to earth to experience His restoration. If the blood of Jesus was strong enough to wash my soul as white as snow, then it’s also enough to take the broken pieces of my life and put them back together.
Jeremiah 17:14 (MSG)
God, pick up the pieces. Put me back together again. You are my praise!
I’ll admit that this has been my battle cry for the past week. Every time I spoke this verse, He would take me a little bit deeper. I want to share with you the treasures He unfolded for me:
The verb used in this verse translated here “put me back together” is Rapha. You may recognize the word as one of the names of God. He is Jehovah Rapha- God my Healer. Many translations translate this verse as “heal me and I will be healed, save me and I will be saved” but there is so much more to the healing than the absence of physical symptoms.
The particular tense used here could be translated as the healing of individual distresses. Here’s what else I found Rapha to mean:
Mend, repair, pacify, stich together
Pacify: soothe, restore to a tranquil state, settle
Repair: to restore by replacing a part or putting together what is torn or broken
Mend: to free from faults or defects, to set right, to restore to health, to put into good shape or
working order again.
The Greek counterpart to the Hebrew word Rapha is sozo and it means “to restore to a sound or healthy state”, to make good; compensate
This Rapha is not just health, it is wholeness in any broken area.
The other verb used in Jeremiah 17:14 is yasha which means deliver, be liberated, saved, placed in freedom from external evils, by God.
Think about all the instances Jesus healed and how many times He said, “made whole” rather than just healed.
Jehovah Rapha is deeper and more intimate than physical healing only or correcting only what we can see with our natural eyes. He is total and complete. He leaves nothing undone in our restoration.
In Luke 8, Jesus was quite busy. He taught, He stilled the storm, cast devils (Legion) out, healed the woman with the issue of blood and raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead.
Jesus said “sozo”, soundness to save.
The account of the woman with the issue of blood found in Mark 5 tells us that she suffered many things, of many physicians and grew worse. She had this condition for 12 years. She had spent all that she had. Jesus spoke wholeness over her.
This woman’s health was not the only thing tainted, drained and broken. Think of the emotional toil, what it cost her in relationships (after all, with this kind of condition, she was considered unclean)…
But He said soundness, wholeness, restoration of what was lost.
Then to Jairus, He said, (Luke 8:50)
But Jesus, on hearing this, answered him, “do not be seized with alarm or struck with fear; simply believe [in Me, as able to do this], and she shall be made whole”.
Whole, not just brought back to life. She was sick when she died. She was restored to health, she was made whole. Let’s look again at our Hebrew word rapha defined…
- Mend, set right, free from faults or defects, put into good shape or working order
Everything was tainted at the fall. Nothing was left in its original perfect state. BUT nothing is beyond the redemptive work of Jesus.
The last part of Jeremiah 17:14 (MSG) says “You are my praise!”. Broken down and defined, it is translated: You are my song of praise; praise as demanded by qualities or deeds or attributes of God; the shouting of a sacred formula
That last one really stuck out to me, the shouting of a sacred formula. The sacred formula would be praise, and we know that God inhabits the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3). When we praise, He inhabits and everything changes.
One Lexicon defined “you are my praise” as the person wherein any one glories: Thou, Jehovah, art my glory.
I was listening to the song “Clean” by Natalie Grant and it’s simply powerful. The lyrics speak to the depths of our brokenness. The chorus says:
There’s nothing too dirty, that You can’t make worthy, You washed me in mercy, I am clean.
I sang that line over and over again, longing for the day when there is no more dirty. I don’t mean “sin dirty”. I mean broken, heartache, sorrow, failure, hurt, disappointment- every sin tainted experience that came with mankind bowing its knee to the voice of Satan. When man chose to listen to his voice rather than the voice of Love Himself, every aspect of life on earth experienced the result.
But God- so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us….. (Ephesians 2:4 AMPC)
Sent Jesus…
He takes the pieces, the shatters, the piles- filthy- not necessarily from our sin and wrong choices- but because we live (exist) in this fallen world…
He takes them- grief, sorrow, abandonment- every shade of filth that the enemy has doused over our lives- and He redeems and restores. He washes our wounds with His and redeems what the enemy intended to destroy us.
He sees us restored before we can comprehend it’s possibility. He calls us whole when we still feel broken. He is the God Who, according to Romans 4, gives life to the dead and speaks of the nonexistent things as if they already existed. Paul is talking about Abraham in this passage. Verses 20 and 21 tell us:
No unbelief or distrust made him waver (doubtingly question) concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and was empowered by faith as he gave praise and glory to God, fully satisfied and assured that God was able and mighty to keep His word and to do what He has promised.
In the face of what was impossible, Abraham praised God. He didn’t praise Him for the impossible, He praised because impossibility didn’t change who God was. I love the last part of that text. Abraham was convinced that God was able, mighty and faithful. Even though Abraham couldn’t see it, nor could he see how He would do it, he was fully persuaded God would do it.
He doesn’t do this in a rush; He doesn’t hurry to slap the broken pieces together. He takes His time with us, because it’s necessary. It’s necessary that each piece be cleaned and placed perfectly in its place so there is no more broken, no more hurt, and not even a haze of sin’s effects remain. If we try to do it in our own human effort, we will multiply the hurt rather than see healing. We cannot clean the broken pieces. He is Jehovah Rapha; the only one Who can put the pieces back together beautifully.
Trust Him. Give yourself time. Give Him time. When He puts the pieces together, they are clean.