Why Restructure May Be Important To You

Each year I usually get a word that I like to carry and meditate on throughout the year. After going through months of uncertainty with this pandemic, I was looking forward to receiving a new word, but it did not happen.

January came and went, and I didn’t receive a word.  At first, not having a word bugged me, and I was irritated because it seemed everybody had a word but me. I finally quit thinking about it and put it to rest until now. God’s timing is always perfect, even when we feel it isn’t.

Recently, while I was on vacation, God gave me a word. I know it was from God because at this point, I wasn’t even thinking about a word anymore. Plus, it wasn’t a word I would have thought about on my own. I’m not even sure what it all means yet, but I know that God will continue to reveal the meaning of this word in my life.

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“Restructure”

The word God gave me was “restructure.” I thought this was a very fitting word seeing how we are in a pandemic. This past year all our lives have changed drastically. Things we thought would never change have changed. What was never normal became normal.

But what does restructure look like for me?

Sometimes it takes being out of your regular routine to see what isn’t normal.

I had to take a long, hard look at my life and see what needed to be restructured. I have always been a person who enjoys structure. I thrive on structure because I like seeing all the checkmarks in the done box. But, the structure of my day imploded along with many others. How about you? Are you struggling to get back into a routine? You are not alone.

Related Post: Keeping Faith When Life Gets Messy

Anything But Routine

Before the pandemic, I had a routine. I started my day and ended my day with quiet time with God. I  focused on eating healthy and exercising at the gym. I went to bed at a decent hour and woke up well-rested. However, as weeks of this pandemic turned into months, I felt my routine slip away. I became obsessed with reading and watching the news. Between Covid and the presidential election, there was no lack of drama. I began to eat junk obsessively to soothe my soul rather than trust the One who saved my soul. I could not sleep for more than a couple of hours at night, and lack of sleep made me jittery and miserable.

My Wake-Up Call

One morning as I read my Bible, this verse became my wake-up call.

You make known to me the path of life in your presence there is fullness of joy at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 16:11

I whispered to myself, what fullness of joy?

How could you have joy during a pandemic?

This was when I realized I lost my joy!

Why?

Because I was trying to juggle two different worlds.

A world where fear dominated everything and hope seemed hopeless. I was in the world more than I was in His presence. I was drinking the poison of a world gone mad. Every day there was a new death count higher than the day before. There was no good news anywhere in the world, according to the media.

However, if I had spent as much time in His Word as I was watching television or scrolling Facebook, I would have kept a better perspective. I became so focused on the problems of the pandemic they became more significant than my God.

There is Hope

I want to encourage you if you feel like your life has come crashing down over the last year, there is hope. I have heard many people wishing things could just get back to normal. But to be honest, I don’t think God wants us to go back to normal I think He wants us to start something new.

We have learned hard things through the pandemic, including not having the ability to say goodbye to family and friends who lost their lives due to Covid. Many of us had to pivot for our jobs, families, and how we did everyday life. Holidays came and went, and the people we usually spent our holidays with did not happen. We learned the value of our families and friendships.  We also found out the things we took for granted, like grocery shopping, going to the gym, and attending church.

What is Restructure?

The definition of restructure from the Free Dictionary is this: to organize (a system, business, society, etc.) in a different way.

When a business goes into a restructure many times, it is to avoid going bankrupt. It is a painful process because usually, people lose their jobs, and pay cuts happen. But a restructure helps a company to reemerge stronger and makes the company more financially stable.

My Restructure

I understand why God gave me the word “restructure.” God wants me to emerge stronger in my faith and more spiritually stable. Yes, it has been a painful process, but the lessons I have learned along the way have made me love God deeper. There have been significant losses for all of us, and it has been challenging to see people we care about struggle with many life issues, but I know that God has better for you and me!

Restructure has made me more aware of God’s plan and design for my life. God does not want me or you to focus on fear because when we do, we miss out on His perfect peace and strength. He sent Jesus to the earth to prove His point. If Jesus had focused on the fear of what was to come, He would never have been able to walk in faith to the cross. Jesus knew His Father had a plan and was in control of the circumstances. It is okay not to understand the why, even Jesus asked why, but He trusted even when it didn’t make sense.

My Joy is Restored and Peace has Returned

Through my restructure, God restored my joy!  No matter what happens to me in this world, I know that God has a plan and a purpose for everything. It is like looking at the world with a new set of eyes. My inward focus has changed to an outward focus.

Related Post: Do You Need to Replenish Your Soul?

3 Questions to Ask

As part of my restructure, each morning when I pray and read the scriptures, I ask God these questions:

1. What do You want me to do today to bring You glory?
2. How can I impact Your kingdom today?
3. Who do You want me to reach out to today?

There is a show called “Reno Without Demo” where the person takes the existing house and restructures it without doing any major demo, saving time and money, but makes the house look completely different and new.

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This is precisely what God did for me. God didn’t have to do a major demo, but he restructured my heart, mind, and soul to make room for more of His light to enter in and my view to be unobstructed. God also called me back to my healthier lifestyle because when we are out of balance in one area of our lives, it affects every area of our lives. God helped me get rid of my outdated thinking and the ugliness of my thoughts.  He helped me to understand the difficulties of this world are nothing new to God; they are just new to us.

The Scripture says:

For the Lord is good his unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

Psalm 100:5

This Scripture is a beautiful promise to all of us, and it is a promise for generations to come.