Restored

This past weekend my family and I went to the city of Xi'an (pronounced She-an), a popular tourist destination here in China. Not that the city itself is anything spectacular, but it does hold one of China's most famous treasures.

In 1974, a peasant farmer was digging for a water well when he came upon buried artifacts dating back to China's first emperor. After several years of excavation, archeologists discovered an entire army of Terra Cotta Warriors (statues) that were created for the emperor to guard his tomb after his death. After years left underground, each unique statue was completely destroyed. Today however, almost 1,000 of them have been restored to their original design (there are about 6 or 7 thousand soldiers in just one pit). The museum is the actual excavation site and you can even see the broken pieces that have yet to be completely unearthed.

As I walked around and stood in awe of this place, I couldn't help but think of how this relates to us spiritually. I wasn't sure how God wanted me to use this lesson, but I knew He would reveal it to me in time. Two days later, as I was working on my latest writing assignment, I knew what God wanted me to do. I wrote a poem that relates the journey of these soldiers to our spiritual destiny. I hope you see the relationship as well and know that by the grace of God we have all been restored.

Restored

Tattered and in ruins,
Our lives entrenched in sin
We long for someone to relieve us
from the empty tomb within

A hand penetrates the dirt
unearthing our brokenness,
and gently collects the pieces
shattered by life's duress

Reclaiming what was lost,
the Craftsman now begins
to return us to the beauty
that always should have been

Breathing anew, standing erect
as we were meant to be
Finally, God's warriors restored
for all the world to see