Full Transcript

You Thought You Lost Those Years… But God Says, “I Will Restore Them

10:36509 summary words · ~3 min readEnglishBy Hullalujah MinistriesTranscribed Nov 8, 2026

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Summary

Based on Joel 2:25 and Romans 8:28, lost time and past hardships can be redeemed by God rather than mourned through chronic regret. James leads a prayer to break agreement with shame, surrender past losses, and believe that future seasons can bear unexpected fruit.

Section summaries

The pain of lost time

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James addresses viewers who dwell on missed milestones or feel behind because of addiction, unhealthy relationships, depression, or survival mode. He acknowledges that losing years hurts far more than losing possessions because time cannot be naturally replaced, yet highlights God's promise in Joel 2:25.

Losing decades often hurts more than losing material possessions because time cannot naturally be recovered.
Joel 2:25 explicitly promises the restoration of the years eaten by locusts.

God's promise of restoration

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The speaker challenges the belief that age, brokenness, or past errors disqualify a believer from God's plans. He explains that living in chronic regret over previous decades merely hands the enemy power to steal present opportunities.

Past failures do not disqualify a believer from God's future purposes.
Mourning 10 lost years for another 5 years allows the enemy to continue stealing in the present.
Repentance and receiving God's forgiveness are the keys to halting the cycle of regret.

Redemption and purpose

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Referencing Romans 8:28, the teaching explains that while not everything experienced in life is good, God weaves even rejection and wilderness into purpose. Suffering equips believers with compassion and character, while lingering over closed doors prevents seeing what God is currently orchestrating.

God does not call every event good, but works all things together for good.
Hardships and wilderness seasons build character needed to steward future blessings.
Fixating on closed doors blinds believers to current works of God.

Prayer for restoration

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James leads a comprehensive prayer of surrender, releasing the grief, anger, shame, and 'what-if' thoughts of lost years to Jesus Christ. The prayer asks for spiritual restoration of joy, purpose, discernment, and strength, renouncing the enemy's whispers that it is too late.

Surrenders past regret, shame, and the questioning of 'what could have been' to God.
Petitions for forgiveness, the ability to forgive others, and emotional healing.
Rebukes lies from the enemy claiming opportunities have permanently passed.
Asks for fresh discipline, renewed vision, and divine alignment in relationships.

Moving forward in faith

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Viewers are urged not to dictate how restoration must unfold, but to leave the outcome in God's hands. James concludes by urging believers to keep moving forward and encourage others who feel hopeless.

Restoration may not match personal expectations, requiring trust in God's design.
Moving forward requires choosing not to waste another year grieving the past.

Key points

God Restores Lost Time — Material things can be rebuilt, but Joel 2:25 promises that God redeems the actual years consumed by hardship, bad decisions, or survival.
Regret Is a Thief — The enemy exploits past mistakes and unchangeable seasons through endless grief to strip away productivity and peace in the present.
The Wilderness Builds Character — Past pain, rejection, and delays are not wasted; God transforms them into wisdom, empathy, and spiritual maturity necessary for future blessings.

AI-generated from the transcript. May contain errors.

0:00

If you look back at your life and feel

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like you've lost the years that you can

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never get back,

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I need you to hear what God said.

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I will restore to you the years the

0:11

locusts have eaten.

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Listen.

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I want to speak to the person today who

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has been looking backward.

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You look at your life and you just

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think, I should be further along by now.

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Maybe you lost years to addiction.

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Years to the wrong relationship. Years

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to depression and heaviness. Years to

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fear or years to bad decisions.

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Maybe somebody else's choices cost you

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years.

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Maybe you spent years simply trying to

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survive.

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And now you're looking at your age,

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looking at where you are and thinking,

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God, there's not enough time left to

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recover everything I've lost.

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But I came here today to remind you of

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Joel 2:25.

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God says, "So I will restore to you the

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years that the swarming locusts have

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eaten."

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Man, I love that God didn't just say he

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would restore the things.

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He said, "I will restore the years."

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Because sometimes losing something

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isn't what hurts the most.

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It's losing the time.

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Money can be replaced. A house can be

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rebuilt. Another opportunity can come.

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But you look at 10 years, 20 years, 30

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years and say, "How do I get that back?"

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You can't.

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But God can redeem what happened during

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those years and bring fruit from

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[snorts] your future that you never

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thought possible.

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And listen, I need someone to hear this.

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Stop believing that you're too late.

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You're not too old. You're not too

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broken. You've not made too many

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mistakes.

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Your past has not disqualified you from

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what God can still do with your future.

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Maybe you say, "But James, I wasted all

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those years."

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Then repent, receive God's forgiveness,

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learn from it, and move forward.

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Don't spend another 5 years grieving

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over the 10

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that you already lost.

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That's how the enemy keeps stealing.

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He can't change your past, so he tries

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to use regret over your past to steal

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your present. No, enough.

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You've cried about it. You've repented

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over it, and you've replayed it a

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million times. Now, give it to God.

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Romans 8:28 says, "God works all things

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together for the good to those who love

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him and are called according to his

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purpose." It doesn't say everything that

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happened was good. It says God can work

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it for good. That's redemption.

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God can take what almost destroyed you

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and make it part of your testimony. He

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can take the years that you spent bound

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and use it to help somebody else become

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free.

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He can take the years you spent rejected

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and give you a compassion for people

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nobody else sees.

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He can take the financial mistakes and

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teach you wisdom. He can take the broken

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relationship and teach you what healthy

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love actually looks like.

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He can take the wilderness and turn it

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into preparation, and one day you're

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going to look back and realize

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God didn't waste the wilderness.

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You learned there. You grew there. You

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discovered who you were there.

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You discovered who God was there. And

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when restoration does come,

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you'll have the character to carry what

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you couldn't have carried before.

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Listen, some of you are looking at a

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closed chapter while God is already

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writing the next one. And you're so busy

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mourning what didn't happen

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that you're missing what he's doing

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right now. So, I want to pray over you.

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Listen, not just for things. I want to

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pray for restored hope, restored vision,

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restored expectation, and the courage to

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believe that your future can still be

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fruitful. Pray with me.

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Father God, in the mighty name of Jesus

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Christ, I bring before you every person

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within the sound of my voice

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who feels like they've lost years.

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You know what happened. You know what

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was taken. You know

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what they wasted. You know what others

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did to them.

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God, you know the opportunities that

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disappeared. You know every tear they've

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cried

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God, over what could have been. And

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Father, today,

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bring those years to you. The years of

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pain, the years of addiction, the years

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of confusion and grief. Oh God, the

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years of fear, the years spent in the

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wrong places, with the wrong people,

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the years spent simply trying to

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survive. Oh Lord, we cannot go backward,

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but you can redeem what is ahead.

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So, today, I surrender my past to you. I

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surrender the regret, the shame, the

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anger. I surrender the question, "What

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would my life look like if that had

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never happened?" God, I release it.

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Because I can't walk confidently into my

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future while constantly staring

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backward.

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Father, where I made mistakes, forgive

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me.

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Where others wounded me, help me to

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forgive them.

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Where circumstances beyond my control

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stole something from me,

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heal my heart. And today,

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God, I receive your promise. I will

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restore to you the years that the

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swarming locust have eaten. Oh, Father,

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restore my hope. Restore my joy. Restore

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my confidence. Restore my desire to

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dream again. Restore the part of me that

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stopped expecting anything good.

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God, open my eyes to opportunities I

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couldn't see while I was grieving the

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past.

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Give me wisdom for this next season.

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Give me courage to walk through doors

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when you open them.

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God, give me discipline to steward what

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you place in my hands. And Lord,

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don't simply restore what I lost. Make

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me ready to carry what you're bringing.

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Use everything I've survived. God, use

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my mistakes. Use my testimony. Use the

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scars, the lessons. Use the wilderness.

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Let nothing be wasted. And when the

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enemy whispers, "It's too late." God,

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remind me that you are not finished.

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When he says, "You missed your

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opportunity." remind me,

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God can open another door.

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When regret says, "You wasted your

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entire life." Remind me God is still

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writing my story.

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I declare today I will not spend the

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rest of my life mourning what I cannot

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change.

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I will learn from yesterday. I will live

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for today and I will trust God with

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tomorrow.

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Oh, Father, breathe fresh life into

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dreams that belong to you. Restore

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relationships that should be restored.

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Bring new relationships where others

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cannot be restored.

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Restore opportunities according to your

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will.

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Restore peace where chaos has consumed

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so many years. Restore purpose where

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disappointment made me quit.

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And Father,

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let the years ahead carry fruit that

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makes me look back and say, "Only God

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could have done this."

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Let my testimony encourage somebody

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who thinks their life is over.

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Let them see what you did with my broken

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pieces.

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Let them see what you did after my

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failure. Let them see what you did after

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the loss. Let them see what you did

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after I thought it was too late.

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And may my life testify

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God restores.

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Father, I don't know exactly what

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restoration will look like. And I refuse

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to tell you how to do it.

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Simply place my future into your hands.

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Your way, your timing, your purpose, and

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I trust you.

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And I believe today that my best days do

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not have to be behind me.

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There are still purposes ahead for the

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years behind me.

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Thank you for carrying me through them.

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And thank you for the years still ahead

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of me,

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I give them all to you in the mighty

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name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

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Listen to me before you go.

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Don't waste another year grieving the

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years you lost.

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God isn't asking you to pretend they

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didn't happen. He's asking you to trust

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him

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with what comes next.

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And maybe restoration won't look exactly

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like what you imagined. That's okay.

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Let God write the story. You just keep

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walking.

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If you receive this word today, comment,

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"God is restoring the years."

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And send this to somebody who thinks

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it's too late for them.

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Tell them your story isn't finished.

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Tell them their story isn't finished. I

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love you. Jesus loves you so much more.

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Stay encouraged. God bless you.

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