Natural disasters show how utterly helpless people are when they hit an area. Despite our advances in science and technology, human beings still cannot control climate, or natural disasters such as tornadoes, hurricanes, monsoons or earthquakes. The best we hope for is to come alongside of those who are devastated and help them restore their lives.
“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. “ Joel 2:25
During the Prophet Joel’s life, the Israelites were faced with the plague of locusts that had devoured the fields and laid them waste. The locusts left people with empty hands and empty bellies and in great confusion of what just happened. In the midst of all of this Joel is calling the Israelites to repentance. He is basically saying that what you just observed happen to your fields is a warning of what can happen to you spiritually. It is God’s warning from heaven, and it would be to your best interest to repent from your ways and turn to God and allow this judgment to pass over you.
Jesus told us that in the last days there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. These things will happen as a reminder and a warning of the coming Day of Judgment by our God (Matthew 24).
Many natural disasters are just natural physical occurrences around us. However, it is interesting that with all the recent natural disasters, I have not heard of any city official or any other leader for that matter, to call people to repentance or declare this could be a warning from God on a coming day of judgment. Of course we want to tend to the needs of those who lost their livelihoods, or even loved ones. However, this should not negate the fact that some natural disasters can have a spiritual message to the people in a specific region or possibly to all of us!!
In the above scripture, Joel 2:25, Joel speaks about God restoring what the locust had eaten over the years. The word “restore” is a powerful word with the below definition:
To be in a covenant of peace, be at peace, to make peace with, to be complete, be sound, to make safe, to be repaid, be requited, to complete, perform.
In any true work of restoration, we must first restore peace with our God. That’s a starting point of all the other restorations. The Lord sent His son to die for our sins, allowing us to restore our broken relationship with a holy God. This requires repentance from sin!!
Jesus’ forgiveness opens the door for us to have a blood covenant with God. He adopts us as His children and our relationship is restored with a holy God. Now we are at peace with God. He takes away our ungodly fears, insecurities, and brokenness and begins the healing process from the ravaging affect of sin in our lives!!
The locusts of our lives are not the same creepy and crawling insects of days past. On the outside our locusts look better, sound better, and taste better. The locusts of our lives can be addictions to alcohol, sex, pornography, overeating, anorexia, bulimia, or they can be more subtle such as workaholism, laziness, perfectionism, competitiveness, envy, jealousy, bitterness, fear, pride, & insecurities. All of these are ways the enemy creeps in, crawls around, and starts chewing away at what is good in our lives until it leaves us bankrupt and devastated!! One day we wake up and wonder,” what happened to my life, my marriage, my children, or my love for God?”
Today the answer is not any different than the days of Joel. God is the only true restorer of our lives. We can’t live in shame and guilt of the past, nor can we look around and get discouraged by other people’s crops. We need to repent from our actions and the “locusts” that we have allowed entering our lives!! As we partner with the Lord, He will begin to restore our lives and will start preparing the fields again.
Our greatest hope on this earth is the restorative work of the cross, first in our relationship with a holy God, then in our relationship to ourselves, and finally in our relationship to those around us. There are times that God restores health and wealth, but ultimately the restored life is an abundant and righteous life lived out for Him.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. Psalm 51:12
After David’s sin with Bathsheba, David repented and asked God to restore the joy of His salvation back to Him. There is joy, hope, and freedom in the restorative work of God. We know we are not in the mode of destruction anymore. God is rebuilding and renewing our souls and our lives. Praise God for His restorative work!! The restorative work of God is available to all those who call on His name!!
Are there locusts that have been eating away at your life which need to be removed and cast out?
Does your spiritual life need restoration? Are there relationships in your life that need God’s hand to repair and restore a better and more wholesome relationship?
Please pray. Repent when necessary, and ask the Lord to restore your life and your relationships.