The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my mind and heart in Joel 2:21-24,
"Surely he has done great things. Be not afraid, O land; be glad and rejoice. Surely the Lord has done great things. Be not afraid, O wild animals, for the open pastures are becoming green. The trees are bearing their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their riches. Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains in righteousness. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil."
A new day is foreseen in Joel's prophecy. At a time when the Lord takes pity on his people he says, "I am sending you grain, new wine and oil, enough to satisfy you fully; never again will I make you an object of scorn to the nations. I will drive the northern army far from you, pushing it into a parched and barren land, with its front columns going into the eastern sea and those in the rear into the western sea. And its stench will go up; its smell will rise." Joel 2:19-20. This will be a time of blessing that will follow his judgment of the nation for turning from him.
We live in a day when the sum total of all good we can gain for ourselves as a nation is seen coming from the right choices we make only relative to the challenges we face. If we are experiencing challenging economic times, we assume a happy outcome can only be had by following good economic policy. If we are experiencing challenging times with the nations that surround us, we assume a happy outcome can only be had by following good choices relative to foreign affairs. If we face difficulties with the food chain, national health, terrorism, crime, etc. the only good that is perceived as providing relief can only be found in the right policies addressing those issues.
I am certain that wisdom and prudence dictate we pursue the best policies to address issues facing us as a nation. We may in fact be facing challenges for the very reason we pursued poor policies in the past. However, relief and even blessings in the areas we face as challenging may have been brought about by turning our backs on God, by no longer pursuing him, by no longer listening to him. God himself may be the author of some grave difficulty we face as a nation.
As in Joel's day, the solution to difficulties we may be facing today might best be addressed by turning to God, embracing him, pursuing him. Good policy may be very effective, unless the challenges we face are brought against us by design with a purpose in mind by God himself.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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