Readings for today: Joel 1-3
I have many friends who are convinced Jesus is coming back in our lifetimes. They look around at the world today and they see all the signs. Warfare. Violence. Natural Disasters. Starvation. Famine. Drought. Climate change. Pain. Suffering. Corruption. Evil. It’s hard to disagree with them. The world certainly feels like it’s more worse off than ever. It seems like there is more hatred, more anger, more polarization and it’s hard to see how any of that changes. There is a growing, unsustainable gap between the rich and poor, the powerful and powerless. It’s hard to imagine how that dynamic gets reversed. So I understand where my friends are coming from. It seems like things are at the 11th hour. It seems like the doomsday clock is ticking towards midnight. It seems like things are only getting darker with each passing year. Surely the Lord is on His way!
The prophet Joel saw similar dynamics in play in his own time. He looked around and saw the coming holocaust. Empires were moving. Israel was weakening. The people were suffering. Plagues. Natural disasters. Drought. Famine. It was hard to see any hope. And yet, Joel knew it is when things seem at their most bleak that God does His best work. And all that was necessary for the people of God to see the salvation of God was to return to Him. “Tear your hearts, not just your clothes, and return to the Lord your God. For he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in faithful love, and he relents from sending disaster. Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave a blessing behind him, so you can offer a grain offering and a drink offering to the Lord your God.” (Joel 2:13-14 CSB) There was a reason behind Israel’s suffering. They had turned their backs on God. They worshipped idols. They tried to be just like the other nations. But God wanted them to be set apart. God had called them out from the nations to be different. They were chosen among all the nations of the earth to bear God’s image and be His representatives. So Joel challenges them to repent. He challenges them to return to the Lord. To worship God with their hearts and not just with their lips.
God is gracious and compassionate. God is slow to anger and abounding in faithful love. We’ve heard these words before. They come from the Exodus when God revealed Himself to Moses on Mt. Sinai. And throughout Israel’s history, God has backed these words up. Israel has experienced His grace and compassion countless times. They have witnessed His love overtake His anger more times than they can count. How many times has God relented from the disaster He planned for them in order to give them yet another chance? Perhaps God is doing the same even now for us? I have no idea if Jesus is coming back in our lifetimes but I do know that when He does, the world as we know it is coming to an end. The opportunity to know Christ and share Christ with others will be over and our eternal destinies sealed. This should provide a great sense of urgency as we think about those we know and love who do not yet know Christ or those we know and love who have turned away from Christ. Take some time today and pray for them. Ask the Lord to call them back to Himself and to give you an opportunity to share Christ with them yet again. Who knows? They may turn even at this 11th hour and come back to Him.
Readings for tomorrow: Jeremiah 1-4