Full Restoration
I am sure there are people who are ready to give up on America or on their own lives. They see the destruction brought on by sin, and they think that things can never be restored to the way they should be. That is a lie of Satan. God is able to restore what He has destroyed, and He does it graciously and completely. (Joel 2:25) Let's look at the imagery that God inspired the prophet Joel to use and receive hope from it.
The people of Joel's day were very familiar with locusts and the destruction they could bring to the crops of a land. In fact, when there was a plague of locusts, they destroyed everything that was living down to the ground. They left nothing. Joel reminded the people of all of the stages in the life of a locust, and how the locusts were so able to swarm, to crawl over everything living, and to consume it by chewing it all up. This was God's analogy for the army of the enemies that He sent against His people because of their sin. These armies left nothing, and the people felt hopeless.
That is why God sent Joel to assure His people that He was able to restore the "years" the locust had eaten. He was able to bring them fully back to like it was before the attack, so that they lost no money or anything. However, this was all dependent upon the people turning back to God with all of their hearts. I pray that we would absorb this truth and take hope from it, so that we will pray for God to restore the years the locust have eaten in America. I am sure He can do it, but will we truly pray?
Tomorrow, I intend to read Amos 1-3.
The people of Joel's day were very familiar with locusts and the destruction they could bring to the crops of a land. In fact, when there was a plague of locusts, they destroyed everything that was living down to the ground. They left nothing. Joel reminded the people of all of the stages in the life of a locust, and how the locusts were so able to swarm, to crawl over everything living, and to consume it by chewing it all up. This was God's analogy for the army of the enemies that He sent against His people because of their sin. These armies left nothing, and the people felt hopeless.
That is why God sent Joel to assure His people that He was able to restore the "years" the locust had eaten. He was able to bring them fully back to like it was before the attack, so that they lost no money or anything. However, this was all dependent upon the people turning back to God with all of their hearts. I pray that we would absorb this truth and take hope from it, so that we will pray for God to restore the years the locust have eaten in America. I am sure He can do it, but will we truly pray?
Tomorrow, I intend to read Amos 1-3.