God gives back

Recent tornadoes have claimed precious lives, uprooted homes and businesses, and brought horrific devastation.  If you've read the newspapers lately like me, you've seen the photos and read some heart-wrenching stories of destruction and loss.  Within a few short minutes lives were forever changed by the unstoppable and uncontrollable natural disaster.

Long ago, the Israelites experienced similar devastation -- the kind that destroys everything in its path.  The Old Testament prophet Joel tells of the locust plaques which devastated the land of Judah unlike anything else before.  Early on, Joel gives details of the locust plagues, "after the cutting locusts finished eating the crops, the swarming locusts took what was left!  After them came the hopping locusts, and then the stripping locusts, too!" 1:4, NLT.  The famine that followed caused significant hardship.

I've never seen a locust swarm in real life but I've read that they hover over the earth blocking out the sun's light, creating an eerie darkness over the land.  Here are a few facts:

• a single locust will consume their own weight in fresh food in the course of one day
• a ton of locusts (a fraction of the average swarm) will eat as much in one day as 10 elephants, 25 camels or 2,500 people 
• locust swarms can include billions of locusts and cover hundreds of square miles
• swarms can travel long distances, as much as 60 miles in one day 

Even more devastating is that as the swarms invade an area to feast, they lay eggs in the ground.  Two weeks later the larvae emerge to crawl and consume anything that remains.  Nice....double whammy!

Why this fascination with locusts?

Well - it began more than 10 years ago while searching for hope after a season of loss in my own life.  The untimely death of my younger brother led me to a place of sorrow unlike any other I had experienced.  Amidst this season was also a family move to a different community and working through feelings of regret due to completely unrelated circumstances.   I found myself far from familiar friends -- grieving amidst new surroundings and unfamiliar routines.

Everyone works through the grieving process differently.  For me - it became a time of isolation and deep reflection on my faith and future.  A host of feelings emerged too -- I experienced sadness but also anger and at times, even guilt.  I found myself working through strong emotions, reliving moments in the past and even second guessing decisions.  Questions also emerged such as, Why him?  Why didn't he live a while longer?  Did I do all I could?  Did I say all that needed to be said?  Where was God?  What's next?

Along with the move to a different town came joining a church where I was introduced to more contemporary styles of worship music.  One day while listening to a popular worship artist I heard these words:

A refuge for the poor, a shelter in the storm, this is our God

He will wipe away your tears and return your wasted years, this is our God*

When I heard those words for the first time, the concept of God wiping my tears AND returning wasted years stunned me -- Does God do that?  If this was indeed a promise -- then I wanted it to ring true in my own life.  I desperately needed to know that God was concerned for my sorrow.  And wasted years?   Wow - I had quite a few of them.  Perhaps you do too.

I needed proof as well as a deeper theological explanation of this promise.   It's found in the book of Joel -- a biblical truth that God is able to return and restore the years the locust have eaten.  Following the locust's devastation, Joel urges his readers to turn to God.  Joel foretells of a future hope, writing, The LORD says, "I will give you back what you lost to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts, the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts." (2:25 NLT).

This promise for restoring loss became a lifeline for me. Who hasn't looked back on a particular event or season of life and said, I'd really like a do-over.  God promises something better than a do-over.  As we turn to Him, He repays, restores and gives back to make up for what was lost.  

It seemed as if God was whispering this promise in my ear.  I began to realize that there was nothing in my life beyond God's ability to repair.  He is even able (and willing) to breath new life into my future.  Although the road to restoration may not be easy, it exists and is available to anyone by way of God's promises and the hope He offers through knowing Jesus.

Author and speaker Carol Kent is familiar with loss.  In 1999 her son was arrested and eventually sentenced to life in prison without any possibility of parole.  After years of failed appeals and the loss of relationship with her granddaughters, she has not despaired.  Her book, A New Kind of Normal, is a personal walk through her own heartache and brokenness.  She includes stories of other women whose lives were shattered by circumstances and who survived by grasping the promises of God.  For Kent, this choice has birthed new life and renewed her courage to find hope amidst any circumstance.

I'm learning that God often uses those parts of our souls that have been stripped and left bare -- places of ruined dreams, loss, guilt and yes, even shame.  When we allow Him, He builds anew, showers the soil of our lives with His hope and peace -- causing new growth to emerge.   I've not only experienced this personally but have seen God restore and rebuild countless other's lives -- on grand scales, affecting communities and even nations.  History proves this.

Are you finding yourself in the midst of a "locust swarm", or are you dealing with the aftermath, stranded amongst the dry ruins of your own soul?  If so, bring your parched and ruined places to God.  He promises to give back what was lost -- in His way, in His time, to an extent greater than we can even ask or imagine.

This is our God.


* song by Chris Tomlin