“Do not become like the people who belong to this world, but let God completely change the way that you think so that you live differently. Then you will understand what God wants you to do.”
Romans 12:2 reminds us that we are transformed completely and radically from the inside out by the Holy Spirit. As we renew our minds with the Word of God, He makes us more like Jesus. Everything we receive from God comes in seed form, and it grows through our relationship with Him and with others.
This means that everything we are looking for—all the things we want to see restored—will not happen in an instant. Restoration takes time. It is a process, and we have to work at it.
To better understand this, read Matthew 13, the Parable of the Sower and the Seed. God's Word is the seed, we are the soil, and the Holy Spirit is the farmer.