What do you do when trouble comes?
Joel writes of desperate times: grapes, figs, pomegranates, dates, and apples are dried up, “indeed, human joy has dried up” 1:12. Then a Ninja-style army invades: “They scale walls, each goes on his own path. They dodge arrows, never stopping. They storm the city, run on the wall, climb into houses, enter through windows….” 2:6-9.
What do you do in the face of destruction and death? You go to God like never before.
“Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning. REND YOUR HEART AND NOT YOUR GARMENTS, and return to the Lord your God” 2:12-13.
God says COME TO ME. Tear your heart and NOT your clothes. Fast. Weep. Mourn. GRIEVE your sins and your focus on your SELF, your SELFISHNESS, SELF-centeredness. Turn to God, truly, wholly, humbly. Give Him everything and He will deliver you, restoring the things you have lost:
“I will repay you for the years the swarming locust ate, the young locust, the destroying locust, and the devouring locust… You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied” 2:25-26.
Then God will bless you spiritually:
“I will pour out My Spirit on all humanity. Your sons and daughters will prophecy. Your old men will dream dreams and your young men will see visions” 2:28.
The question is not IF you will face adversity, but WHEN. And when you do, SEEK GOD. Repent of sins and selfishness. Fast. Pray. Weep. Mourn. Beg God to change you. –And He will. He will restore what you have lost, and He will bless you with His Spirit, with dreams, visions, and purpose. He will give you a hope and a future, when you seek Him with all your heart.
God, remind us not only to pray for an end to our struggles, but to pray for selflessness and holiness. Convict us of sin and make us more like You. Make us willing to die to self and live for Christ.
ΑΩ
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