Restore our fortunes, O Lord.
Restore our energy.
Restore our motivation.
Restore our vision for the future.

At this point in the semester, I think most college students would agree that they need some restoration. You start the semester excited for new classes and new opportunities, but after two months that motivation starts to slip away. It takes more effort to get out of bed in the morning. It takes more effort to write the reflection that your professor assigned as homework. It takes more effort to go over your notes one more time before you go to bed. The carrot dangling ahead that keeps you going is spring break. It doesn’t matter whether your plans for break are to go to the beach with your friends, to go home and be with your family, or to stay on campus; the idea of no classes, no assignments and no real commitments pushes you through.

Okay, so probably the majority of you reading this aren’t college students, but everyone needs breaks. It could be that your work schedule doesn’t allow for you to take off for long stretches of time or you’re a parent and you can’t put your children’s needs on pause while you go on a vacation. But that’s when God comes into the picture. “Restore our fortunes, O Lord,” the psalmist pleads.

In those times when you’re burnt out and it seems like there’s no way to revive your desire to keep moving forward, may God restore you.

Scripture: Psalm 126 (NRSV)

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream.

²Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”

³The Lord has done great things for us, and we rejoiced.

⁴Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like the watercourses in the Negeb.

⁵May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy.

⁶Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.