What is God recovering in your life this season? In my own recent time of recovery, I felt the Lord speak that word – "recovery" – over my season. He prompted me to look it up. While the first two definitions were very much what I would expect – 1) "the act, process, duration, or an instance of recovering"; 2) "a return to a normal or healthy condition" – it was the third definition that caught my eye. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, recovery is also defined as "the act of obtaining usable substances from unusable sources."
The beauty of taking something USABLE from something UNUSABLE is a perfect picture of what God is doing in us during our times of recovery. Whether it's physical recovery, recovery from heartbreak, recovery from financial devastation or trauma, or the reestablishment of some areas of life where a completely new start is needed, God is RECOVERING something in your life right now.
A Turning Point and a Change of Focus
In Isaiah chapter 10, God speaks of a turning point in the battle. Through this battle, God had been weaning them off their dependence on unprofitable things. God was helping Israel reach a point where they would no longer depend on allies who sought to destroy them, but would faithfully trust the Lord (Isaiah 10:20).
As God causes us to come into recovery from a battle, He also weans us off of mindsets, habits, relationships, or positions that keep us dependent on old mindsets or old ways of living that will be unstable and destructive where the Lord is leading us next. (Photo via Public Domain Pictures)
The Lord is calling us to take our focus off of what we're recovering from and onto what we're recovering.
Do Not Go Back That Way Again
When outlining how to live after their exodus from Egypt, God gave this instruction in Deuteronomy 17:16: "The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, 'You are not to go back that way again.'"
It's interesting to think that the people who watched the Lord part the seas for them would still think of Egypt as their supplier of power ("horsepower" was the driving force of the day).
What is your Egypt? What are you coming out of? In what ways (thoughts, habits, resources, etc.) are you still unknowingly "getting horses from Egypt"? It may very well be that as we try to get back on track with what life used to look like, the Holy Spirit is instead trying to teach us new solutions for new seasons.
As you ask the Holy Spirit to identify what work of "recovery" He is doing in your life, it will require not going back the old way again. Instead of old, familiar grooves, the Lord is making new paths in unused spaces.
Recovering Treasure
In this recovery season, God is also rehabilitating buried treasure in our lives.
My son and I were recently watching a show on the recovery of valuables from underwater. This type of recovery is about finding objects that are incredibly valuable or useful but are currently in a position or state of not being able to be used – much like that third definition of recovery listed above. After being cleaned up, repaired, or even just extracted from their lost location, their usability and value are restored. As God does this in our lives, He takes things that are not being used... the things about which we would say, "That's not valuable," "That part of me can't be used anymore," or "Nothing useful can come from that place." (Photo via Creative Commons)
Often, the first thing that the Lord must recover is our eyes to see the potential for His goodness in the seemingly invaluable or impossible.
If you're in a time of recovery, let the Lord begin to stir your hope again. Take these encounters to the secret place and let the Holy Spirit begin to recover all He wants to in your life. There is nothing beyond His power to redeem. He brings something usable from the most useless places. We serve the God that recovers all!
In closing, ask the Lord these questions:
1. Lord, what are You wanting to recover in this season?
2. Lord, what are some unhelpful things I am relying on now for which You want to show me a better way?
3. Lord, in what parts of myself or my life do You want to show me anew the value and potential that You see?
4. Lord, what are the places which I have felt are useless that You want me to feel are usable again?
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Sara Whitten
Arrows of Zion
Email:Â sara@arrowsofzion.com
Website:Â www.arrowsofzion.com
Sara Whitten is an author, speaker, equipper, and founder of Arrows of Zion Ministry. She and her husband are youth pastors at Impact Christian Fellowship in Kerrville, Texas. Sara is a prophetic writer that is featured on Charisma, The Elijah List, Spirit Fuel, and more. She hosts "Hear God Every Day," a podcast with tools to help amplify the voice of God amidst the noise of everyday life. She participates in developing resources and Bible-based trainings for areas least reached by the Gospel. Sara also facilitates trainings for professionals wanting to use their business or marketplace skills for the Kingdom.
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