18/05/2026
REFLECTIONS with Maria
Yesterday in church, a casual mention of Joel 2:25 - ... I will restore to you the years ..." deeply ministered to me as if I never saw that Scripture before.
I realised, God did not merely promise to restore crops, money, or possessions. He promised to restore years.
And that is paradoxical, because time is one thing man cannot naturally recover. Lost money may return. Health may improve. Opportunities may come again. But years gone by, remain forever gone.
Yet God, who stands outside time, made the promise. The question that stayed with me all day was how?
What I realised is that the restoration of years does not necessarily mean God reverses time or erases painful seasons. Rather, He compresses what should have taken many years of struggle, rebuilding, and recovery into moments of divine acceleration and favour.
So I began to search for examples. Joseph is perhaps one of the clearest examples I found.
Joseph lost thirteen years to betrayal, slavery, false accusation, and prison. If perhaps he was released from prison, it would have taken him decades to rebuild his life, find opportunities, establish influence, gain credibility, build wealth, and eventually rise to significance enough to fulfil his dream with his brothers bowing to him.
But God restored years through one divinely orchestrated encounter with Pharaoh. In a single day, the prisoner became a ruler, the forgotten man became unforgettable, and the dreamer stepped directly into purpose.
What should have taken years, God compressed into one moment of favour.
Another beautiful example is Naomi. Naomi, in ten years experienced devastating loss. She lost her husband, her sons, her security, and her joy. So broken was she that she said, “Call me not Naomi, call me Mara...” Ruth 1:20.
But God restored her years through Ruth and the birth of Obed. With "one chanced opportunity" to glean in Boaz's farm, the woman who once returned empty became part of the lineage that would eventually lead to David, and ultimately to Jesus Himself.
God did not merely restore Naomi’s possessions. He restored her hope, legacy, joy, and future.
Perhaps this is why the promise in Joel touches the heart so deeply. Many of us silently carry the ache of: delayed dreams, lost opportunities, wasted seasons, unanswered prayers, painful detours, or the feeling that, “I should have planned better.”
But the God of restoration still works wonders with broken timelines.
- He can do in one season what should have taken ten years.
- He can open doors no human effort could have forced open.
- He can restore purpose after long silence.
- He can redeem delayed seasons with astonishing fruitfulness.
And sometimes, the very years that looked wasted, become the years that prepares us for the weight of destiny. Because honestly, there is the credibility dimension to God’s Word, I saw yesterday too.
He said and it stands true forever, Romans 8:38 (AMP)
“And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose.”
My sincere prayer for everyone of us is may the Lord restore every year that seemed to have been consumed by delay, sorrow, confusion, fear, stagnation, or loss.
May He compress years into one encounter that will erase the memory of wasted or event eaten up years.
And may our story also become evidence that God still restores years in Jesus name.
