God Can Restore To Us All That We Have Lost

Let your sorrow for wasted years push you forward like a rocket—don’t just say ‘I’m sorry,’ but run full speed for God and live wholeheartedly for Christ.
- Zac Poonen

Summary:

God’s Amazing Creation of You

I’ve known the Lord for nearly 66 years, and one thing that has helped me is reading Psalm 139. This part of the Bible talks about how God made us. It says in Psalm 139:13-14 (paraphrased): “You formed my inward parts; you wove me inside my mother’s womb. I thank you that I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” This means God carefully created every part of your body, even before you were born. Think about how your body works so perfectly—your heart beats, your lungs breathe, your liver and other parts all work together. It’s like a machine, and if one tiny thing goes wrong, it could stop working. But you’re alive! Even if you’re young, like 10 or 15 years old, or older like me at 85, it’s a miracle that so many things in your body work just right to keep you alive. I’m amazed at how God made us so wonderfully.

God Had a Plan for You Before You Were Born

In Psalm 139:16, it says: “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written all the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.” This means that even before you were fully formed in your mother’s womb, God was watching you. He had a special plan for your life written in His mind, like a book. Imagine that! Out of billions of people from the time of Adam until now, God thought about you specifically and made a unique plan for your life. I believe this with all my heart, and it has changed how I live. This is the only book in the world, the Bible, that is 100% true. No matter who you are, God had a wonderful plan for your life before you were even born. I don’t know how long I’ll live, but I know God wrote down all my days before I was born, and my job is to work with Him to follow that plan.

You Must Choose to Follow God’s Plan

God’s plan for your life doesn’t happen automatically, like a machine that just runs on its own. You have to choose to cooperate with God. If you say “no” to Him or rebel, you can mess up His plan. I’ve wasted days in my life when I didn’t take my Christian life seriously. I was born again at 19 and a half years old, and I think about those first 19 and a half years as wasted because I didn’t know the Lord then. I wish I had known Him when I was 3 years old! But I’m encouraged by someone like the Apostle Paul, who wasted about 30 years of his life. He even did terrible things, like killing Christians, but God still had a plan for him. God saw Paul, even when he was doing wrong, and said, “I’m going to turn him around and make him my greatest servant.” That’s amazing!

Feeling Sorry for Wasted Time Can Push You Forward

When Paul realized how much he had messed up, he felt deep sorrow. That sorrow was like a fire that pushed him to live fully for God, like a rocket blasting off. I’ve felt that too. I’ve done wrong things in my life, and it makes me sad to think about how I disobeyed God or lived for myself. That sadness pushes me to say, “Lord, I want to make up for those wasted years.” I don’t just want to go to church meetings and live a normal life. I want to do something meaningful for God. If you feel sorry for the wrong things you’ve done—whether you’re young or old—let that sorrow push you to live better. Don’t just say, “I’m sorry,” and then keep living the same way. Let it make you want to do God’s will with all your heart.

Don’t Take Forgiveness Lightly

Some young people take God’s forgiveness too lightly. They don’t feel deep sorrow for their sins, so they don’t run toward God with all their energy. I wasted years in my life, and that regret makes me run full speed for God now. I see some young people being casual about their faith, not zealous or wholehearted for Jesus. That’s sad. If you don’t take your faith seriously, you’ll regret it when Jesus comes back. In Acts 17:30, Paul said: “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.” God forgave Paul for his 30 years of mistakes, but Paul chose to live in repentance every day after that. Repentance means turning away from sin and living for God. I try to live like that too, noticing things in my life that aren’t like Jesus, even if they seem small to others.

Learning to Be Like Jesus

As you grow closer to God, you start noticing things in your life that aren’t like Jesus. For example, I once thought it was normal to expect people to say “thank you” when I helped them. Years ago, I helped a young man in Bangalore a lot. He stayed in our home, and we supported him. But when he left and got a good job, he never said thank you or told us how he was doing. I thought, “What an ungrateful person!” Then God spoke to me through Matthew 25:40, which says: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” God showed me that when I help someone, I’m doing it for Him, not for them. So, I shouldn’t expect thanks from people—I should expect it from God. That changed me. I stopped expecting “thank you” from others, even though I still say “thank you” myself. This is just one example of how God shows me things in my life that aren’t like Jesus, and I keep learning as I grow.

Jesus Finished God’s Plan for His Life

In John 17:4, Jesus said: “I have glorified you on earth, having finished the work you gave me to do.” Jesus only lived to be 33 and a half years old. He didn’t travel to places like China or Africa. He stayed mostly in the small country of Israel. He spent years helping His mother and siblings, and from age 18 to 30, He worked as a carpenter, making stools and benches. He only preached for three and a half years. But at the end of His life, He could say He finished the work God gave Him. Jesus didn’t care about doing big things or traveling far. He just wanted to do exactly what God planned for Him. Even being a carpenter for 12 years was part of God’s plan. If Jesus had gone preaching during those years, He would have missed God’s will. This shows that God’s plan for you might not always be preaching or doing something big—it could be being a good mother, student, or worker.

How to Follow God’s Plan

I want you to be gripped by this truth: God has a plan for your life, made before you were born. To follow it, you need to seek it with all your heart. Here are some ways to do that:

Keep a Good Conscience: Don’t let any sin stay in your heart. If you’ve hurt someone, ask for forgiveness. If you’ve gossiped, stop and make it right. A clear conscience helps you hear God’s plan.
Feel Sorry for Past Mistakes: Let your past failures push you to live better, like they did for Paul and me.
Be Thankful and Humble: Be grateful for others who can help you. Don’t be proud and think you can do everything alone. We’re like a body—every part needs the others, just like the heart needs the hands and stomach to work.
Forgive Others Quickly: If someone hurts you, forgive them right away. If you’ve hurt someone, ask for forgiveness as soon as you can. Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:12: “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” This means God forgives us the same way we forgive others.

A Final Call to Take God’s Plan Seriously

I urge you, especially young people and older ones too, to take God’s plan for your life seriously. Don’t waste any more time. I’ve wasted years, and I don’t want you to have the same regrets. If you don’t live for God now, you’ll feel tremendous regret when Jesus returns and you stand before Him. If you’ve hurt someone or need to forgive someone, do it now. Decide to forgive immediately when someone wrongs you, and ask forgiveness as soon as you wrong someone else. Let’s pray and ask God to help us live for His plan.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please help everyone here to take the plan You have for their lives seriously, especially the young people and the older ones. So many of us have wasted years. Help us make the best of the time we have left before You come again. We pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

Complete Notes:

Introduction to God’s Plan

One of the things that has helped me in the 65 years since I’ve known the Lord—it’s nearly going to be 66 in a few months—is what I read in Psalm 139. If you turn with me there, it speaks of how God formed our body inside our mother’s womb. Everybody knows that part. I mean, they may not believe God did it, but it says in verse 13, “God, You formed my inward parts; You wove me inside my mother’s womb.” And I thank You that You fearfully and wonderfully made me. When you look at your body and how it functions so perfectly for so many years, it’s a miracle.

The Miracle of the Human Body

You young people, just think of the miracle of your body. I’ve read a little bit—I’m not a doctor, but I’ve read about the functioning of the human body: the heart, the lungs, the liver, and so many parts. I tell you, there are a hundred things that could go wrong, and that could have gone wrong in you young people’s lives, that you might not be alive today. So, I’ve come to see that the very fact that you’re alive, even for one year, is a miracle. So many things have to work so perfectly inside. It’s like machinery, you know—one thing goes wrong, and the whole thing packs up. And we are alive! I’m alive at 85 years. How many things could have gone wrong? Even if you’re only 10 or 15 years old, how many things could have gone wrong that you would not be alive today? We are fearfully and wonderfully made.

God’s Personal Plan for You

It says here in verse 16, “God’s eyes saw our unformed substance.” Before you were a proper body inside your mother’s womb, while you were being formed, just think of that seriously. Before you were formed in your mother’s womb, God’s eyes were looking at you. Make it personal. I like to think of that: when I was in my mother’s womb, not even properly formed as a body, God’s eyes were on me. You can make that personal for yourself—God’s eyes were on you. And in Your book—in Your book means in God’s mind; God’s book is in His mind—were written the days that were ordained for me. I say, “Lord, I’m one among the billions of people that have lived on the earth from the time of Adam. You mean to say that You were so interested in me, just being formed inside my mother’s womb, so small, that in Your mind there was a plan written down for my life with all the billions of people You have to take care of?” True. I believed it. It’s changed my life.

The Truth of God’s Word

I tell you, if you believe it and accept God’s Word, this is the only book in the world—the only book in the world—that is 100% true. If it was written in any other medical book, I wouldn’t believe it, but when it’s written in God’s Word, I believe it. It’s 100% true. I don’t care who you are—before you were formed in your mother’s womb, make it personal—God had in His mind a wonderful plan He made for your life, all the days that were ordained for me before there was even one of them. That means before I was even born, He had already written down. I believe that. I don’t know how long I’m going to live, but I know one thing: God had it written down before I was born. That’s why I’m not in a panic. I’m not afraid. “Oh, I may get cancer, or something will happen, I’ll have an accident.” I don’t know how the Lord is going to take me to Himself, whether it’s by His coming from heaven, maybe that way, or some other way. But one thing I know: the days were written down for me, and my job is to cooperate with Him in fulfilling that plan.

Cooperating with God’s Plan

It’s not automatic. It’s not like a machine where God just starts it, and it’s going to automatically fulfill. No, God’s plan for your life will not be fulfilled if you don’t cooperate with Him. Anywhere along the way, if you rebel against Him and say, “No, no, no, I don’t want that,” God says, “Okay, go your way.” And we can mess up God’s plan. God forgives us, but there can be days that are wasted. I wasted days in my life when I did not take my Christian life seriously. I think of 19 and a half years when I was born again at 19 and a half years. I say, “Lord, what happened to those first 19 and a half years? Wasted.” I wish I had known the Lord when I was 3 years old.

Learning from the Apostle Paul

But there again, I’m encouraged by the Apostle Paul. He wasted about 30 years of his life. I wasted only 19 and a half; he wasted 30 years of his life, and he did such terrible things like killing Christians. Imagine that. And God had His eyes on this guy who was going around killing His own God’s children. He said, “Yeah, I’m going to get a hold of him. I’m going to turn him around and make him My greatest servant on earth.” It’s amazing. And when Paul realized that and got converted, he always thought, “I, the greatest sinner whom God called.” What did he think about the years that were wasted? Thirty years of Paul’s life were wasted—not only wasted but going anti-Christian, like an anti-Christian, killing God’s children. What about that? That brought such sorrow in his life. “Lord, I have messed up Your plan for me. I have hurt Your children.” And that repentance was like a fire that made him go full speed, like a rocket.

Repentance as a Propelling Force

That’s the thing that came to my heart. Many people say, “I’m sorry for my sins,” but the sorrow doesn’t seem to act like a rocket to propel them to do God’s will in the future. They say, “I’m sorry,” and “God’s forgiven me.” Think of the wrong things you have done, my brother, sister, older people, and younger people. Does it bring such sorrow in your heart that you weep and say, “Lord, I’ve got to make up for that in some way”? It does bring that in my life, certainly. That’s what made me say, “Lord, I’ve got to do something. I can’t just sit back and say I’ll just go along to the meetings, attend the meetings, come home, and go along next Sunday to the meeting.” That’s not all for me. I have to make up for the years that were wasted when I lived for myself and disobeyed God. That’s what made Paul into a mighty Apostle.

Making Up for Lost Time

My brother, sister, God could have done a lot more for you, let me tell you that. I don’t want you to feel condemned, but if you take it seriously today, God could have done a lot more for you if you had really felt sorry for the way you dishonored God in all those years, or even after you became a Christian. You’ve dishonored God by your foolish conversation and the stupid things you go around doing and saying. Does that bring sorrow in your heart? “I’m messing up my life. I’ve already messed up so much; I don’t want to mess up anymore.” That’s what I said. I said, “I don’t want to mess up anymore. I want to make the rest of my life useful for You, Lord.”

The Privilege of Young Believers

I’ve told young people, some of you have the privilege of knowing these truths, which I came to know when I was 35 years old. You come to know when you are 15, so you should be able to go far ahead of me in your Christian life than I have. But I said, I doubt it. Because I’ll tell you why—not because I’m better than you, but because the years that I wasted in my life with backsliding and all that have brought such sorrow in my heart that it has made me run full speed. And I see that some of you young people, you take forgiveness so cheap that you’re not running full speed. And that’s why I’m going to overtake you—because I’m running full speed because of the regret I have over the times in my life that I wasted. And I don’t see that regret in some of you. You take it so casually. You’re so casual in your attitude to Jesus Christ, even today. You’re not zealous and wholehearted. That’s sad.

God’s Mercy and Repentance

I want to tell you, you’ll have a lot of regret when Christ comes back. Take it seriously now. Look at what Paul said in Acts chapter 17. He said, “I had many years of ignorance in my life, and I did a lot of stupid things.” But Acts 17:30 says, “God has overlooked all those times of ignorance.” Those 30 years of Paul’s life where he wasted, God says, “Forget it, forget it, Paul. I overlook it, but now live a life of repentance from now onwards.” So, there was a point in Paul’s life where he knew that God blotted out the past, but he said, “I’m going to live in repentance every day.” That is the way you run full speed—if you live in repentance every day.

Daily Repentance and Growth

God is my witness; I live in repentance every day. You say, “Brother Zac, what are you repenting of? Are you committing sins every day?” Well, not what you would call sin, but I’m unlike Christ. You believe I’ve become like Christ? I’ve not become like Christ. There are little things which, you know, it’s like when you’re in the second grade, you don’t understand what somebody is struggling with in the 10th grade or 11th grade. You won’t even understand if he talks about it. So, I won’t talk about it, but there are things that, as you walk with the Lord, you discover what is un-Christlike, which I never knew was un-Christlike even five years ago.

Discovering Un-Christlike Behavior

One mark of Christian growth is that you discover new areas of being un-Christlike. For example, the other day I said, “How expecting people to say thank you to you—do you feel that is un-Christlike?” I’ve never heard that preached anywhere in my life, but God showed it to me that expecting people to come and say thank you to you is un-Christlike. I said, “How?” Because it happened to me once, many years ago. I’ve told a story about a young brother whom we helped a lot in Bangalore in the early days of CFC. He used to stay in our home sometimes, and he went away, got a good job, and I never heard from him. I thought to myself, “What an ungrateful guy this is. After all that we did for him, he doesn’t even write a thank-you note telling us what he’s doing.”

Expecting Thanks Is Un-Christlike

That’s when the Lord spoke to me, “Haven’t you read My Word, which says, ‘When you do this to the least of My brothers, you have done it unto Me’?” The Lord told me, “When you help one of My children, he’s My younger brother in Christ. You have done it for Me. And if you did it for Me,” the Lord said, “who should thank you—he or Me?” That day, I learned that if I’ve done something unto man, I must expect thanks from him. But if I’ve done it as unto the Lord, even though it is a brother I help, but I did it as unto the Lord, then who should thank me? Not him. That day, I realized that expecting somebody to say thank you to me is a sin for me. I mean, we teach our children to say thank you, of course. We’ve got to say thank you, and I would say thank you to others, but I don’t expect anybody to say thank you to me. I was delivered of it many years ago. That’s one example.

Growing in Spiritual Maturity

I could give you instances like that, which you don’t even think are sin. That’s what I mean—when you’re in the second grade, you don’t understand what 10th-grade people are talking about. It all seems strange. Well, that’s because you’re in the second grade. But I hope you will not stay in the second grade. I hope you’ll move on to the third, the fourth, the fifth, and discover things that you never even thought were un-Christlike. You say, “Boy, that was un-Christlike in my life all these years.” And I believe there are un-Christlike things in me today which I don’t know. It’s like the 10th-grade student saying, “Hey, there are things in college they’re studying I don’t even know.” You will discover when you go to college. The Christian life is exactly like that. So, if you take it seriously, it’ll go better and better.

Jesus’ Example of Fulfilling God’s Plan

One last verse I’d like to share. As I get older, the word that comes to me is this: John 17. Jesus didn’t live a very long life. You would think what a blessing He would have been if He had lived up to 80 or 70. He died at 33 and a half. He never went to China or Africa or anywhere. What a blessing He’d have been if He had gone to China, Africa, America, Europe, and all that. No, He didn’t even go outside Israel, except one visit to cast out a demon somewhere. All the time, He was in that small nation of Israel. The one human being—God became man—who could have been a blessing to millions, lived in a small area. And what did He say at the end of that? John 17, verse 4: “Father, I have glorified You on earth.” How do we glorify God on earth? By finishing the work You gave Me to do.

Finishing the Work God Gave You

That was His last day. He was just about to go to the cross. That night, He was captured in Gethsemane. This is just a few minutes before that. “I have finished the work You gave Me to do. I preached only for three and a half years. I was making stools and benches a lot of the time for 12 years, from 18 to 30. I was making stools and benches, and before that, I was helping My mother, Mary, at home and helping My younger brothers and sisters. But one thing: I stayed free from sin all these years, and all the people I was supposed to meet, I have met.” Even though He did not travel outside His country, a lot of people like to travel to so many countries. Jesus could have done it. He only wanted to finish the work God wanted Him to do. If He had taken a one-week holiday to Rome, He’d have missed one week that God had something for Him to do in Israel. That’s how strict He was with His own life.

Applying Jesus’ Example to Our Lives

I say, “Lord, I want to be like that.” I didn’t have this light earlier on when I was converted, when I was 19 or 20 years old. But You’ve shown me more and more the seriousness of life. The important thing is not what I do or how many people I witness to, but have I finished the work God gave me to do? And if God’s plan for Jesus was 12 years to be a carpenter, if He had gone around preaching, He would have missed the will of God. So, preaching can be outside the will of God if God’s called you to be a carpenter for 12 years. He preached for three and a half years; He was a carpenter for 12 years. But He finished the work God gave Him to do.

Your Unique Calling

So, don’t think only those who get up and preach, who have a gift of preaching, are doing God’s work. You may be a mother with many children, looking after them. You can finish the work God gave you to do. I hope you’ll be gripped by one thing: God has a plan for my life, which was formed before I was born. Lord, help me to know that. Seek with all your heart to know that plan.

Keeping a Good Conscience

I want to tell you something: if you want to know that plan, keep a good conscience. Don’t let any sin stay on your conscience. If you have hurt somebody, go and ask forgiveness. If you have gossiped, stop gossiping. You’re defiling yourself, and you won’t be able to know God’s plan. Let your past failures bring you to deep repentance and say, “Lord, at least the rest of my life, I don’t want to mess up anymore.” Be thankful for brothers and sisters who can help you. Seek their help. Don’t be so proud to think you can do everything on your own. You cannot.

The Importance of Community

There’s no part of this body that can function on its own—not even the heart. The heart does such a lot of work, but it is dependent on the hand picking up food, the mouth chewing the food, the stomach digesting the food, and so many things, converting it into blood and coming into the heart. The heart is also dependent on others. There’s no part of this body that’s independent, and you are not independent, no matter how gifted you are. I know I’m not independent. That’s why I’ve learned to value the body.

A Call to Action

Dear brothers and sisters, I say to you with all my heart: fulfill God’s plan for your life. It’s not going to be automatic if you don’t take it seriously. I give you my word: you will have tremendous regret when Christ comes back and you stand before Him. So, if you have ears to hear that, I pray you will hear it.

A Call to Forgiveness

Can we pray for a minute? Bow before God once again. I have to say what I always say at such times: if you have to forgive anybody, forgive them now. Whatever wrong they did against you, forgive them, release them, don’t think about it again. And if you have to ask somebody’s forgiveness, make a decision right now that at the first opportunity, you’ll write a letter or call the person and ask forgiveness. And then, from now on, keep this forgiveness area absolutely clear—that you will forgive everyone immediately as soon as they hurt you, and that you will ask forgiveness as soon as you have hurt somebody else. This is a very, very important area because we are taught to pray, “Father, forgive us exactly as we forgive others.”

Closing Prayer

Heavenly Father, please help everyone here to take the plan You have for their lives seriously, especially the young people and the older people. So many of us have wasted so many years. Help us to make the best of what we have left before You come again. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.