He Will Restore

Reading the book Joel this morning and having thoughts about addiction, memory and the conscience...

"The word of the LORD that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel: Hear this, you elders; give ear, all inhabitants of the land! Has such a thing happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers? Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation. What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten. Awake, you drunkards, and weep, and wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine, for it is cut off from your mouth." - Joel 1:1-5 ESV

I also listened to part of a message from Chuck Smith and he brought out that these locusts that seem to be listed as different insects but actually they are different developmental stages of one kind of insect.

The reference to elders or 'old men' reminds me of this passage.

"And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him." - John 8:7-9 ESV

The 'old men' left first because they of all people knew they were not without sin. The cutting locust had turned into the swarming locust and they had turned into the hopping locust.

Doesn't this remind you of addiction? It is an insect that starts out small but grows.

""Yet even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments." Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your God? ... "The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you. "You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame. You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God and there is none else. And my people shall never again be put to shame." - Joel 2:12-14, 24-27 ESV

When we think of addiction the substances are what often come to mind but this morning I'm thinking of the plague of trying to please God. It is widespread and damaging as it grows. The cross is the ultimate representation of how far short our performance is. Only one person has ever pleased God. Jesus. Our blessing is always and only by association.

People try to please God as children and then as young adults. They grow up and the problems compound because in that economy we have expectations that God should eventually please us in return and His perfect plan has many unpleasing things.

Yes. Heroin will eat up a person's life but so will a works program of self-pleasing, people-pleasing or God-pleasing.

We can live in 'the finished work of the cross' and have our life restored. Jesus can be all in all. He can be the alpha and omega of our spiritual life and what was devastated can be restored. I have seen the freedom people gain once they embrace the finished work. How they relate to God and others becomes healthy.

We don't need to please Him. Jesus already has. Now we can just be with Him in what He Is doing. God Is glorified and we don't steal the glory from Him. He becomes the answer we give to others. Not methods. Not actions or mindsets... just Jesus. Jesus as the Saviour. Jesus as the shepherd. Jesus as the missionary. Jesus on His knees praying. Jesus the great physician. Jesus as the brother who gives us a Heavenly Father.

Jesus as our King.

""Yet even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments." Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster." - Joel 2:12-13 ESV

So cry a little if you are trying to please yourself or trying to add to what Christ has done by trying to please God. Rend your heart and turn. It is amazing what He can restore when our eyes shift to Christ and His life.

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