THE SCENT OF WATER
For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch will not cease.
Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground.
Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.
Job 14:7–9
I met a young lady in her first year in college when I returned to school for my second degree. She was in the same prayer group as I was years ago and she had a very strong prophetic anointing. She often met me with visions and encounters she had in the spirit and asked for explanation. You could tell she has something rich with God even in her secret place. At some point she met me and told me some specific instructions God gave her about her destiny and calling and I was so glad because one of the hallmarks of spiritual progress are the unique seasonal instructions from God that birth consecrations. I was glad that God had found for himself a heritage in the campus to show himself and that she was walking progressively in the path of her call. I cannot begin to tell you the spiritual exercises she carried out weekly and monthly privately. With the way she was going she was going to be an asset to the entire body of Christ in just a matter of time. On my part I was deliberate about giving her counsel and all the attention she needed when she reached out to me. After the pandemic, I left the campus and lost contact with her up until 2023. She got my number from her friend and called me. I was glad she called and I tried to catch up with her and her walk with God. What she told me was heart breaking and the reason I write this article. She said she did some things God specifically told her not to and her life took a different turn from the will of God for over a year and still counting. She is calling me now because she knows she has veered off and she wants to return and cannot because she is overwhelmed by guilt and doesn’t believe she can be completely restored to the place and things she had with God. She said she has not successfully been able to pray and find the presence of God for over a year.
I do not write this article because of her mistakes but because I know there are thousands of believers who have veered off from the will of God at some point in their life and are right now stuck in the valley of guilt. They know they have erred but are not bold enough to return. Some have even ventured more in their error because of guilt. As the days pass by their souls are shrinking from the turmoil of regret and the draught of the presence of God. I write to tell you that it is not over. It doesn’t matter how long you have strayed far from the presence, it’s not over. As long as there is still breathe in your nostrils it’s not over and I write here to show you the principles of restoration.
1. Acknowledge
This is simple but the most important step. The journey to restoration begins with a man acknowledging that he is wrong, in fact, it is important to identify the point from which the veering began or the very action that began the slide. For some it is fornication or adultery, for others it is grieve or strive followed by series of losses and attack from darkness. It doesn’t matter what it is just identify and accept that you have erred.
2. Know the Fathers Heart
After you acknowledge and accept your wrong, you need to know that God is not happy that you went outside of his will and stopped fellowshipping in his presence, but is patiently waiting to receive you back in the place of fellowship with zero condemnation. Like the prodigal son and his father, God does not see you less than who you are before you left. You are still His baby and he has missed you terribly. This knowledge will take away the guilt and fear that might keep you where you are. In the journey to restoration, guilt is the greatest asset of the devil while confidence in the Fathers love is the only cure to it.
3. Return
Once you have reckoned and acknowledged the fathers heart, then you can return. The first place to return to is the place of fellowship and intimacy. I want to be very practical with this; Take out time to be by yourself and then cry to the father from your heart in sincere repentance, tell him you know you have erred and have wandered far from his presence and will, but you also know that with Him is plenty of mercy and compassion. From your bowels ask for mercy, you won’t be heard because of how much you cry or shout but because the Father loves you and because you come in sincere repentance.
As you cry, you will be overwhelmed by a torrent of the presence of the Father and His love. You will hear his voice calling your name and all the sores of your soul will be restored by the sweetness of the rhythm in his voice.
The presence of God is the scent of water Job was talking about, It is in the presence that the life is revived and hope restored.
Some people might not have the courage to do it personally, you can walk into a living Church and when worship and prayer are offered to God fall on your knees and beckon on the mercies of the Father.
The devil knows your only hope for restoration is in the presence so he will fight to keep you doing every other thing in guilt except approaching the throne of your Father.
4. Remain
After your first encounter with the presence, you have to make a decision to remain in the presence and will of God. As you remain, He will begin to give you instructions again that will cause even the physical things you have lost to return. As you stay your eyes will begin to see again, your wings and feathers will grow again and once again you will become the eagle you were and even soar higher as you keep staying.
I write to you where ever you are and no matter how far you think you have gone from the presence, if you can take a pause and acknowledge your fall, If you can accept the heart of the father towards you, If you can be courageous enough to RETURN to the presence then there is hope for you. God is calling out to You, RETURN. You might be old now and when you derailed you were just a youth and the devil is telling you its too late, I dare you to return and you will be amazed at what God can still make out of your life. Don’t wander any further, don’t waste more years in that far away land dining with swine. RETURN.
You can live in Eden again.
You can ascend the Hills of God again.
You can dwell in his holy mountains again.
There is no need to dwell any longer in guilt.
Your Father calls you from the heights of Zion.
Rise to the place where mercy dwells.
Come to the place where grace abounds.
RETURN.
