The city will be rebuilt on her ruins. (Jer. 30:18)
AS A UNIVERSITY WRITING INSTRUCTOR, I had a student propose to research whether playing video games every day for a month would improve his skills. His clear goal was to pass without working, so he received a bad grade—and a lecture the other students weren’t privy to (at no additional fee!). I worried he would fail, but when his goal changed, and he proved he was eager to pass, I was able to work with him, which is what I wanted all along. We were able to use his original idea and turn it into a strong research project, changing his research question to: Are video games constructive activities for college students? He ended up writing a strong essay urging students to avoid activities that kept them in their rooms in favor of joining campus events.
God’s people experienced a similar transformation when their hearts turned back to the Lord. From the beginning, God wanted the best for His children, but they rejected His good plans for them so they could pursue destructive behavior. He was forced to punish them. But when they returned to Him, He restored them—right in the very place they had fallen to ruin.
And God’s promise goes beyond earthly restoration. We will fail over and over again, but one day He will restore His children in His heavenly kingdom.
Repent and ask God to transform you.
Heather Gemmen Wilson is the author of the Global Warning Series (WPH), a fiction series for preteens.
