“I will restore to you the years
which the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.”
Joel 2:25. (RSV)
These words in the book of Joel, have meaning for anyone who has ever felt the effects of the locust eating away at something in your life, your health, your family or a purpose you are called to fulfill. God promises to restore whatever the locusts have eaten. The bible is full of metaphoric examples of ways that the locusts eat away at things. Those stories in the bible are so much like real life, and we can see the same family dynamics and relationship problems existing today. Scripture talks about imperfect parents, dysfunctional sons and daughters, flawed spouses and a lot of bad things happening to good people. Some have suffered emotionally, which reminds me of Jacob’s life. Jacob fell in love with Rachel, and expected to receive her as his wife on the wedding night, but her father tricked him and gave him her sister Leah instead. Jacob was deceived by his father in law, and after revising his agreement with him, he had to work seven more years until he was allowed to marry Rachel, who was the love of his life. After all that, she became his wife, and gave birth to Joseph, but died giving birth to Benjamin. Jacob waited so long to marry her, and then she died in childbirth. Jacob lost many years that he could have had with his beloved Rachel. With all the years that the locusts had eaten in Jacob’s lifetime, the most painful for him was the loss of his son Joseph, Rachel’s first born. Jacob was deceived by his own sons, who lied to him and told him Joseph was killed by a wild animal, when his brothers actually tossed him in a hole, where slave traders found him, and sold him as a household slave. Joseph never saw his father or brothers for decades, as he was falsely accused as a household slave and spent some years in jail. Through his gifts of wisdom and dream interpretation, he was finally promoted to a high place in Egyptian government. For decades Jacob mourned for his first born son, Joseph, thinking he was dead. The twists and turns of providence led to a miraculous family reunion, decades later, all because of a great famine that spread across the land. God brought all these disjointed family members back together and restored the relationships between them all. God can use famines, pandemics and droughts to bring about something positive, because He is a restorer of things that were lost. He brings life to what was once dead, makes wholeness out of brokenness, and shines His light in our darkness. With so many “why me?” moments in Joseph’s life, he readily forgave his brothers when he saw them again after all those years. God reunited the family and for Jacob, it was as if Joseph was raised from the dead. He was able to see all of his sons together and reunited again. God restored the years that the locusts had eaten in Joseph’s life as well as in his father, Jacob. The gospels also give examples of those who suffered with debilitating illnesses for years, who finally found restoration through Jesus. With all the different ways that people suffer because of the years that the locust has eaten, Jesus told them that their faith has made them whole. As we think about where the locusts have eaten in our own lives, we turn to the God of providence and restoration. We trust God’s word that He will restore and renew all that was lost in our lives, because He said “I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten.” He heals broken hearts, heals bodies and minds, reunites families, and restores relationships. Lord, we believe you are a God who can heal, restore and renew all that was once eaten by the locusts, and we thank you in faith for the miraculous restoration that you are planning for us. Amen