Restoration vs. Removal

Acts 3:19-21
"...Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord ; 20. and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, 21. whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time...

I work for an awesome man of God who is a root canal specialist. If you've ever had a root canal, then you might know that it takes time and somewhat tedious. My boss was sharing his experience with a friend who needed emergency surgery. He was making a point on how the surgery, an appendectomy, only took the doctors an hour and half. (For those of you who are surgeons, its not making light of the amazing work you do! :)

The point he was making was that in his particular field, he stated, on a difficult case can take up to 6 hours from start to finish. (Don't be scared, THOSE appointments are broken up over different days :) I can attest to the degree of patience these procedures require. Tiny canals inside your tooth, viewed with a microscope, in an open mouth with the reflection of a mirror being your primary tool of seeing inside... get a complicated picture? Even for me, the few times I have assisted him, I am quietly ewwwing and aaahing behind my mask.

Whats the point?? He's restoring a tooth. Keeping something that is dying alive.
Sure, you can pull the tooth, throw it away and maybe never hurt again. But function is now gone, usefulness is gone, purpose... is gone. Not only that but the bone needs the tooth to grow/live properly. Without the tooth is slowly breaks down and apparently becomes porous. (ask your dentist for details, I'm just the help :)

Restoration restores life, function, usefulness, PURPOSE. That's why restoration takes 6 hours and removal takes an hour or two. So the next time you are wondering why it seems to take God so long to RESTORE what has been stolen, lost, or broken... remember it was just too valuable to be removed. He has life, function, usefulness and PURPOSE for the stolen, lost and broken things in our lives. Even His return awaits 'the period of restoration' that it takes for Gods PURPOSE for us to be played out.