The Years the Locusts Ate

In Joel 2:25, Adonai promises that He will restore all that was destroyed in Israel. He promised to build Israel back up and He promised that they would never again be shamed. His only condition was that they turn from their wickedness and seek after Him once again. He promised them abundant life and that He would dwell among them. They would be His people and He their God. They would regain what they had lost and so much more. What a beautiful promise that was.

When we go through trying times and we feel as if our pain may never end, it can feel like the years the locusts ate. We may feel as if we have lost so much of our lives, or wasted it, and then we feel the pain from the grief of those losses. When we watch someone we love go through this, it is equally as painful. The locusts spread to our lives too, because it is very difficult to be happy and enjoy our own lives when someone we love so much is suffering. It is difficult to enjoy the good things that happen, because we want good things to happen to the person we love. We want that person to have all the joy and happiness in life that they can possibly have and when you do not see that happening for that person, it is hard to feel joy ourselves.

For me, the locusts have devoured much for someone I love. This person is finding it hard to hope, because she has not felt hope, or joy, in a very long time. This passage in Joel gives me encouragement though. Rather than thinking about that which the locusts ate, I look forward to the restoration coming. I know that God has a purpose for this person I love. She is special, so very special. He loves her with an everlasting love, more than I could ever love her and I love her more than life itself. So in her struggle and as we grieve for the years the locusts ate, God is working on us both.

In this painful time, God is teaching me patience and He is showing me how He wants us to wait on Him. He knows what each of us needs in order to become the people He wants us to be. Sometimes, becoming the best versions of ourselves requires trials. Trials refine us as fire refines silver. Just as the fire burns away all of the impurities in the metal, so do the trials we face in life, because those trials force us to learn and grow. I claim in advance that God is doing this work in the one I love and He will bring that work to its completion.

I thank the Lord in advance that He will restore the years the locusts ate. He will give back and rebuild the one I love. She will prosper and she will grow and thrive. She will be a testimony of God’s great wisdom and mercy. She will be a model for God’s love. This time of famine and drought is preparing her for the work she has yet to do. She will be a mighty woman of God! Yes, I claim this. My hope is in the Lord and I thank Him that all of this will be done. I will not allow the locusts to steal anymore from us, because I know God will give back what we have lost and much more. He is our God and we are His children.

If you feel grief stricken because of the years the locusts ate in your life, please know that God is able to restore you and rebuild your life. Allow His presence in your life. His love is everlasting and overflowing for you. He wants to see you live abundantly in joy and peace. Whatever it is that you are going through, please know it will all turn for your good if you allow yourself to be refined like silver. This pain is only temporary. Your joy is coming. Believe it! Claim it! I claim it for you. I will stand in the gap for you until you can claim it yourself. May God abundantly bless you and keep you.

Dare to Hope

There is a very important person in my life who is struggling emotionally. One of her problems is that she is afraid to let herself hope, because the thought of being disappointed is more than she can bear. She is so afraid of failure that she will not even allow herself to try. She basically thinks about all the "what if's" and she thinks herself right into a state of paralysis. I cannot express how difficult and heart-wrenching it is for me to watch helplessly and not be able to really help her. I realize that I must let go, let her go through her process and allow God to do His work in her life. I told her that even if she cannot seem to find a way to hope, I will hope enough for the both of us.

There are so many people who struggle with this chronic pessimism and fear. Hope is so elusive because, in their minds, things do not seem to work out for them. What they fail to realize is they have a negative filter through which they are viewing their lives. When you do not allow yourself to see the good, you will not see it, no matter what others tell you. Those with this negative filter keep themselves imprisoned in a constant state of fear, depression, anxiety, sadness, loneliness, and hopelessness. If this resonates with you, please believe me when I tell you that freedom exists and hope is the key to that freedom.

So now you may be asking, "how do I find this hope?" The first step is to allow yourself to dare to hope, in spite of your fears. Once you make the decision, and yes, it is a decision, then you must act. It takes effort to change the way you think and view the world. Changing your negative filter to a positive, more optimistic one takes courage and work, but it is worth it. Let us look at it this way. Right now, you are depressed, sad and lonely. Does it not take up every bit of your emotional energy to live this way? If you have been able to withstand the pain of inaction, surely you can dare to hope and risk disappointment.

If you cannot seem to muster up the hope in your own strength, there is good news. You can look to your Creator to find it. As it says in Lamentations 3:21-23, "But in my mind I keep returning to something, something that gives me hope-that the grace of Adonai is not exhausted, that His compassion has not ended. On the contrary, they are new every morning!" Please let that register with you. His mercy is new EVERY MORNING! That means that every day, you have a fresh start afforded to you. You have another day to learn and grow. If you fail or are disappointed one day, you have a do-over the very next day!

If you take nothing else from this blog post, please grab hold of this. You need not fear failure. Failure is simply another opportunity to learn. Then , the next day, you have another chance to implement what you have learned. You need not fear disappointment. Disappointments are only temporary, but remember, God's mercies are PERMANENT! It is my hope and prayer that those who are suffering in the prisons of their fear learn that God will never leave them or forsake them and He will lift their heads up high (Psalm 3:3) when they cannot find it in their strength to dare to hope. He is our hope when we feel hope is absent. Today, right now, I challenge you-DARE TO HOPE! God bless!