Have you ever felt as if some of the years of your life have been lost or wasted? Just about everyone I know would answer “yes” to that question.     Here is some good news. The Lord has a solution for those lost years. It’s called restoration.The Cure for Wasted Years     Recently, some visitors arrived at the office of Derek Prince Ministries looking for help. In fact, they had driven many miles to Charlotte in hopes that someone at DPM could take just a few moments to pray with them and minister to them. From their initial comments, it was obvious that these people were desperate for prayer and a word of direction and encouragement from the Lord.     As I talked with the husband, he told me how as a young man he had given in to his parents’ demands to follow the career path they envisioned for him. In fact, in spelling out their demands, they had actually attached something of a word curse, telling him that if he didn’t comply, he would never really experience God’s blessing and success in his life. “I didn’t feel it was the right course for me,” he said. “But I agreed to their demands out of a sense of duty to them.”     His next remark revealed the depth of his feelings of regret: “I feel like I have wasted thirty years of my life.” When he spoke those words, a verse came immediately to mind—God’s promise in Joel 2:25: “So I will restore to you the years that the swarm­ing locust has eaten. . . .” My encouragement to him was that the Lord was the only one who could supernaturally make up for years of our lives that seem lost or wasted.     Other DPM staff members joined in the time of further ministry to this couple as we led them through a prayer of renunciation of the word curse that had been placed upon them. Then we asked the Lord Jesus to restore the lost years and bring release for them in the next season of their lives. When that couple left later that afternoon, they had a totally different perspective, and we believe they got what they came for.Two Important Truths     Most of us could echo at least some of the feelings expressed by that man and his wife. We could point to times in our own lives that seem like a total loss or waste—times for which we need help and healing. Two encouraging truths from Joel 2 are important to recognize in connection with restoring our lost years.     First, the Lord is the only one who can restore those years to us—and He does it supernaturally. No other power in heaven or on earth can create or renew time. It happens only through the supernatural power of the Lord.     Second, restoration of lost years is based upon an additional truth found in Joel 2:12–17: our need to actively seek the Lord. That passage begins with God’s command: “‘Now, therefore [because of the devastation you have seen],’ says the LORD, ‘turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning’” (verse 12, NKJV). Healing and restoration come when we turn deliberately to seek the Lord with all our heart, acknowledging that He is the only one who can restore.Ten Years in Ten Minutes     Derek Prince shared regularly about this truth that is seen in Joel 2. With great insight, along with the dramatic testimony in the excerpt that follows, Derek confirms how the Lord can restore years that have been devoured by the enemy. The excerpt is taken from a radio series by Derek on the topic of “Restoration.”     Then, in the next verse God sums up what He’s accomplishing through His intervention on behalf of His people. The key word is “restore.”So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chew­ing locust, My great army which I sent among you (verse 25).     You see, the central thrust of God’s purpose for His people is in those words, “I will restore. . . .” I want you to notice the extent of God’s promise. It goes far beyond what we would normally anticipate. God does not merely say He will drive out the invading army of insects, but He says He will restore everything that they have eaten. That’s a tremendous promise of God. We need to lay hold upon it.     It was vividly illustrated for me once by an experience I had in praying for a woman who, through some kind of difficulty, had become partially paralyzed in her face. As a result, her face was permanently twisted. One corner of her mouth was slightly turned up and the real tragic thing was she was unable to smile.     Well, I prayed for her and stepped back. Together with a little group of people that were sharing in ministry, we watched God perform a miracle. In about ten minutes, that woman’s face changed, her muscles were released, the color came back, and her left arm and left leg (which had also been partially affected by paralysis) were completely released. At the end of ten minutes, she was a whole woman.     What really impressed me was this: the lady who had brought her to the meeting looked at her and said in awe, “Why, you’re ten years younger than you were when you came!”     God had given her back ten years of her life in ten minutes. Everything that the insects had eaten, God had given back. That’s restoration.     “I will restore” is one of the most beautiful promises in the Bible, one of the most all-inclusive. Restoration includes every area: spiritual, emotional, physical. It includes the individual; it includes the family; it includes God’s people as a whole.Taking an Aggressive Stance     It is a rare life that totally escapes some form of loss. (After all, in this passage from Joel, there are four different varieties of locusts described that ate up the years of the people of Israel — swarming locusts, crawling locusts, consuming locusts, and chewing locusts. Chances are good that you have encountered at least one of those devourers.)     Reversing the effects of those locusts often requires faith and determination. I remember a teaching where Dutch Sheets quoted a passage about the aggressive way God restores what has been stolen from us. It was Jeremiah 51:44, where God says, “I will punish Bel [a Babylonian god] in Babylon, and I will bring out of his mouth what he has swallowed.” My mental image of that Scripture is the Lord forcing His arm right down the throat of the enemy, violently pulling out what had been devoured. That’s the kind of aggressive stance we need.Are You Ready for Restoration?     How about you? Have you had to deal with the regret of lost and wasted years?     Does the testimony Derek shared about the woman resonate with you? Are you ready to see the Lord restore the years you have lost? If that’s the case, please pray the following prayer with me now:Dear Lord Jesus,     I ask for Your renewal in my life. I now take my stand with You to restore the years of my life that locusts have devoured. I proclaim that You, Lord, are able to bring forth that restoration as I seek You with my whole heart. You, Lord, are able to reach into the throat of the enemy and pull out what has been swallowed.     Nothing is impossible for You, dear Jesus. I ask You now to completely restore every one of my lost years. In Your name I pray. Amen.God’s Greater Purposes     Our greatest hope and prayer is that you will receive everything you need in God to be the person He has called you to be. God’s beginning point could well be His restoration of your lost years. From there onward, He has a whole future ahead in which He will help you to fulfill His purposes for you.     We also want to help in that process, just as you are partnering with us to extend Derek Prince’s material and ministry to many others who are in desperate need. Please click here to request the downloadable audio for the complete week of radio messages Derek shares on “Restoration.” That teaching goes well beyond personal restoration to give you a picture of God’s ultimate purposes. We pray it will not only bring you the restoration you are seeking, but move you further into His plans for your life.     Thank you for standing with us. Thank you for drawing from us. Thank you for seeking the Lord for His purposes to be fulfilled in you and in us in these days.All the best, Dick LeggattPresident, DPM - USAP.S.  Please make sure to download the message by Derek on “Restoration.” It will help you understand how God will fulfill His promise to restore your lost years and use you in His wider purposes for the years to come.