January 10
Restoring The Years
“So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten….”
Joel 2:25a
For its small size, the book of Joel may be the book of the Bible most concerned with fasting. No less than three times within the first two chapters of this book, calls are made to declare a fast. God’s people had suffered several setbacks, and the repeated calls to fasting were made in the hopes that restoration would be possible. Restoration would indeed come, but it would be a restoration that might seem utterly impossible. When we have suffered a setback, or a series of setbacks, frequently the most significant loss we face is the loss of time. Other things can easily be recovered. There's always a way to make some more money to recover from a financial loss. Material things can be replaced. When time has been lost, though, it cannot be recovered. It is gone forever. However, Joel 2:25 tells us something powerful about God's restoration: "So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten..." Notice in this verse, God does not say that the crops/things that have been eaten will be restored, but the years, the time. God's restoration goes far beyond material things. He has a way of giving us back the one thing that seems impossible to restore: time. Every moment that felt like it was wasted while we struggle can be restored. If He could make the sun stand still, essentially making time stand still, for Joshua, then He can certainly restore any time that we may have lost. When we fast, we are putting ourselves in position to receive the kind of restoration that can only come from the Lord. Fasting allows what seems like impossibly lost time to be restored. If you are in the midst of a struggle, do not worry about the time that is being spent right now. You'll get it back. If you are going through a storm right now, do not worry about the length of the storm. You'll get that time back. Every moment that you have spent in a struggle, every moment you have spent in the storm, every moment you have spent in a place of exile will be restored. God will give back the time you thought was lost forever, whether it is days, weeks, months, or even years.
“So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten….”
Joel 2:25a
For its small size, the book of Joel may be the book of the Bible most concerned with fasting. No less than three times within the first two chapters of this book, calls are made to declare a fast. God’s people had suffered several setbacks, and the repeated calls to fasting were made in the hopes that restoration would be possible. Restoration would indeed come, but it would be a restoration that might seem utterly impossible. When we have suffered a setback, or a series of setbacks, frequently the most significant loss we face is the loss of time. Other things can easily be recovered. There's always a way to make some more money to recover from a financial loss. Material things can be replaced. When time has been lost, though, it cannot be recovered. It is gone forever. However, Joel 2:25 tells us something powerful about God's restoration: "So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten..." Notice in this verse, God does not say that the crops/things that have been eaten will be restored, but the years, the time. God's restoration goes far beyond material things. He has a way of giving us back the one thing that seems impossible to restore: time. Every moment that felt like it was wasted while we struggle can be restored. If He could make the sun stand still, essentially making time stand still, for Joshua, then He can certainly restore any time that we may have lost. When we fast, we are putting ourselves in position to receive the kind of restoration that can only come from the Lord. Fasting allows what seems like impossibly lost time to be restored. If you are in the midst of a struggle, do not worry about the time that is being spent right now. You'll get it back. If you are going through a storm right now, do not worry about the length of the storm. You'll get that time back. Every moment that you have spent in a struggle, every moment you have spent in the storm, every moment you have spent in a place of exile will be restored. God will give back the time you thought was lost forever, whether it is days, weeks, months, or even years.
Written by Reverend Dustin Elder
Posted in 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting
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