Joel 2:25 I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.
There was a time in my life when I was so very devastated and defeated, I could not move forward. I truly felt empty…void. I felt numb to everything, I could not give anymore, I had nothing to give. I was spent. The trials and people in my life or who had been in my life had taken enough of my life and I just didn’t care anymore.
Until one day a friend pulled me aside and talked to me. She asked me about myself and I shared how I was feeling and she suggested I go to counseling. I told her I would and we went our separate ways. A few weeks later she caught up with me again and asked if I had been. I told her I had not, and she encouraged more strongly. Days if not weeks later I was reading scripture, Joel 1:12 “…Surely, the joy of mankind is withered away.” My heart broke, the burden of my past years had weighed so heavily on me, my joy had withered away. I continued to read,“Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.” Rend my heart?…that sounded painful, but a gracious and compassionate God slow to anger and abounding in love?…Shaking like a leaf, I called and made my appointment with a counselor.
That session was exhausting, I went home and collapsed on the couch. I wish I could tell you I felt better but I felt sick to my stomach, I felt empty. A few days later I continued reading Joel. I get awestruck and comforted how God communicates to us through His scripture. “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten.” Restored? There was a time I could remember, before I lost my way, when my days were good and the weight I carried was my own. I went to my knees and thanked my Father in heaven for seeing me and meeting me where I was. I was an empty vessel and I was ready to be restored. He is a God of kept promises and I trusted Him that this promise He made so many years ago was for me too.
With most anything that I have restored, there is a remnant of what was. Jesus not only offers redemption, He restores and makes all things new: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
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