Demontae Edmonds: "He Promises to Restore"

"He Promises to Restore"

Demontae Edmonds, Atlanta, GA

Recently, my wife and I experienced a lawn care issue that God used powerfully to demonstrate a promise from His Word. He used this issue to give us first-hand (or experiential) knowledge of Scripture. Before this incident, we had only read and connected with this particular Scripture passage via mental assent, versus personal knowledge with emotions attached. I felt compelled by the Lord to share this account and encouragement with the Body of Christ.

Desolate Overnight

My wife and I discovered that almost all of the grass in our front yard had died and turned brown. Our children were the first ones to notice. As I took the kids to school they exclaimed, "Father, how did the grass turn brown overnight?" The day before, the grass was perfectly green and healthy. It was a mystery to us how the sudden negative change could occur so quickly. For months, our lawn care service had been working to improve the quality of our grass and appearance of our lawn, but somehow all of this work seemed to have been a waste. Our first thought was that maybe the lawn care company's last round of spray killed off the healthy grass,
in addition to the weeds.

My wife called the lawn care company that services our yard to report that the yard looked desolate. They advised us that it could not be from the chemicals they sprayed, but from some other culprit. The owner of the company visited our home and inspected the yard. Alas, he discovered that the root of our yard's overnight 'turn for the worse' was armyworms! Armyworms were something we had never heard of before, until moving to Georgia. These little critters are the larvae (or caterpillars) of armyworm moths. Their scientific name is frugiperda, which in Latin means "lost fruit," due to the damage they cause to agriculture. They are also called armyworms due to their behavior, as they perform mass invasions on lawns, fields, and farmland. They will typically destroy a residential lawn in a matter of hours. (Photo via Flickr)

For about two weeks we would look on with grief at our lawn. Our grass being barren and devoid of greenery made the entire front yard seem drab. Some of our neighbors and friends questioned what had happened. When we would leave the house or return, my wife and I would avoid looking at the yard. We prayed that God would restore the yard.

Restore What the Locust Has Eaten

One morning, I awoke and looked out the window. The grass was green, moist, and lush. It had only been three weeks after the armyworms had invaded our yard. We felt that it would take many months before our yard normalized, but to our surprise, it had only taken a matter of weeks! It was now healthy again!

A well-known Bible verse (Joel 2:25) dropped into my spirit: "So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust..." (I would like to add the armyworm to this verse!)

First, the Lord used a natural phenomenon of armyworms to reveal to me His great ability to bring RESTORATION in our lives. Life, disappointments, loss, and trauma happen to us all. However, God is the great restorer of our souls and also of our joy and peace. Second, after only three weeks, no one could even tell that our lawn had recently been infested and barren. God has a way of not only restoring us, but doing it to such an extent that others cannot tell what we have been through in past seasons!

Joel 2:26 speaks a powerful promise, "You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; and My people shall never be put to shame." God has the ability to not only restore, but to bring INCREASE. (Photo via Pixabay)

"You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied..." I believe this promise includes – but also transcends – material blessings. As God brings us into more of an awareness of His love, presence, and workings in our lives, it causes our souls to be satisfied.

Prayer of Restoration

Dear heavenly Father, we thank You for Your power to restore to us what the enemy has stolen. We thank You for restoring to us peace and security that has been lost to our souls. We thank You for restoring joy that has been lost, due to adversity and trauma. Father, in Jesus' name, we decree the promises of Joel 2:25 over us. We declare that You are restoring to us now what the swarming locust, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust have eaten! We thank You that the deep areas of our hearts are being satisfied with a greater knowledge of Your Holy Spirit's voice, presence, and leading. In Jesus' name, amen.

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Demontae Edmonds
Freedom 4 the Nations
Email: INFO@F4Nations.com
Website: www.f4nations.com

Demontae Edmonds is the founder of Freedom 4 the Nations, host of "This is Freedom" podcast on Charisma Podcast Network, and host of Atlanta's "Highways" TV program. He travels the nations preaching the Gospel with notable signs, wonders, and miracles. His heart is to share the reality of Jesus Christ with the world through demonstrations of the Holy Spirit's power and presence. He has authored the books "Grab Hold of Your Miracle," "Discerning of Spirits: 7 Dimensions of Revelation," and "The Supernatural Gift of Faith."

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