Deuteronomy 30:4
“If your outcasts are at the ends of the earth, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you back.”
The Lord can restore our brokenness. We may seem beyond repair; people might hopelessly look on, but God is able. If a handle is broken off a cup, then it can be glued on to appear complete. However if it’s shattered into small pieces with some of them lost, it becomes trash.
Today’s verse deals with such brokenness. The people could have gone in all four directions, but says He is able to bring them back. It may seem like an impossible task. Yet, He is able.
Addicts feel hopeless. Due to the lack in their lives, they have gone to many places for comfort: substances, relationships, food, work and so on. They become so dependent that their lives get out of balance. They lose friends, jobs, marriages and so on. They feel hopeless as do the ones that care about them.
Jesus says in John 8:34, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.” That includes all of us. If we are in Christ, we feel the effects of sin, but His power and our obedience keep us away. If we are not in Christ, we are enslaved to one degree or another.
2 Timothy 2:25 speaks of those who “oppose themselves”. We’ve all been there and occasionally still go there. We do things we know hurt us. Some do it to a great degree. There are those who take advantage of and harm others.
The Lord can help the addict. Even though deep gaps exist and bad habits are present, He can bring healing. Jesus referenced slavery in John 8. A few verses later, He says, “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”
Lord, thanks for Your redeeming and healing power.