The Years the Locust has Eaten...Restored.

"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." (Joel 2:25, ESV) This is perhaps one of the greatest promises in all of scripture. Joel begins with a plague of locust in four swarms that eliminates anything green from the land--even down to the bark on the trees. For the next number of verses, God tells his people through the prophet Joel to repent of their sins. The plague was sent among the people to illustrate to them their need of spiritual repentance. God wanted them to tear their hearts and not their garments (Joel 2:13).

I have previously written testimony about God changing Jacob into Esau. I was able to relate to it fairly well, though I know that I will never be perfect this side of heaven. I have been learning a new lesson, however. After my roommate Tim Trometer died my junior year of college, I was shocked for a while, but as I meditated upon Job 1:21, I started to see that there was something besides possessions that one had to hold onto. My life's quote became, "When God gives a gift, hold onto the Giver."

Until recently, this quote made sense, because Job had to have been holding onto something besides the blessings God had given him. Yet as I approached Philippians 4 and meditated upon Paul's response to the Philippians' gift, it was clear that this response didn't cut it, because Paul did receive their gift. He didn't need their gift, but was thankful for their giving. Thus, thinking about how to reconcile the almost ascetic holding onto God and the receipt of physical earthly goods, I concluded that God must be held onto, but that there was yet another element. This element is that we are to receive God's blessings with open hands. Then God can freely give and take away as He desires while we look into his loving face.

Meditating upon the joys of heaven has been a particular blessing to me recently. I heard a pastor talking about singleness being like an ocean of grace and marriage being an additional thimble-full. In light of eternity, it doesn't matter what material things are given to us on earth. Therefore, it doesn't matter whether I hold onto the blessings God gives, unless He places them in my hands.

Thus, I have learned that the removal of Verity (my girlfriend) from my life was not really a great loss from an eternal perspective. Yet in the past week, we began to talk again and see if God wanted us to part ways or to remain together. In the course of the week through much prayer, we both concluded that the Lord had been so strongly at work to unite us throughout the time of our separation that we are to remain in a relationship and pursue God's will for our lives, while believing that it includes each other.

Throughout the course of our conversations, it became evident that God had been at work in both of our hearts. He had brought us so far from where we had been that our hearts were overflowing with praises to God for His transforming power in very stubborn areas. It was so joyous to be together. This spiritual blessing of seeing the hand of God at work was like a refreshing river. And to top it off, God seems to have given a thimble full of earthly joy in our continued companionship.

It is very much like God has restored the years the locust has eaten. Three months without a single word of communication would seem to be impossible for a relationship and it would seem like it should take a few weeks at least to rebuild what was there, but there was more godly affection for each other in our relationship than before, and God has done so much that there was no gap in our relational development, except that God had taken away much of our former baggage.

May God's character be praised for His grace in changing two stubborn lives. May He continue to be exalted as we receive with open hands the blessings God gives!