“God’s promises are like stars– the darker the night, the brighter they shine.” –Jan Coleman, author of After the Locusts.
In the book of Joel, a devastating event occurs, something which will be retold to subsequent generations:
Has anything like this happened in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? Tell your children about it, Let your children tell their children, and their children another generation. Joel 1: 2-3
What sort of calamity could this be, what sort of story so incredulous that it could be recounted to future generations?
It is a plague of locusts. 
Can you imagine looking up and seeing the sky turn dark as millions of these insects descended upon the land you occupied? These insects are described as “chewing, swarming, crawling, and consuming” locusts. The scripture says that the fig tree branches were stripped white. The result of the plague was utter loss and devastation. The people of this society had lost everything– their crops, grass for their animals, their livelihood. Nothing green was left. They looked upon a barren wasteland.
(Did you know there are 80 different kinds of locusts? They belong to the grasshopper family. A typical swarm can be 30 miles long and 5 miles wide, and even today swarms affect Australia and Africa.)
After facing the devastation of such a loss, we can wonder how those in Judah felt. Their dreams were shattered. Their hopes– gnawed away by the locusts. What would become of them now? Their dreams and hopes of the future? How would they survive?
My Bible commentary suggests that Joash could have been the king at the time. While it’s not certain, it is possible. This young Joash was crowned king at the tender age of 7.
Humor me for a moment, as we ponder what a seven-year-old king might be thinking while watching a swarm of locusts descend upon the land.
I have two boys (one around Joash’s age) and both like to catch bugs. In fact, my eight-year-old thinks of insects as “pets”. He even likes the pesky orange Asian beetles that seem to be everywhere in our area! If Joash were like any current day typical seven-year-old, I can imagine he may have tried to catch a few of the insects himself and put them in a place where he could observe them for a while.
Or, perhaps young Joash, after the initial excitement, may have been affected by the horror-stricken faces of the adults around him, and also succumbed to fear, helplessness, and disbelief.
One thing is certain: a plague of locusts (or other natural disaster) is beyond the power and control of any earthly king, no matter his age.
But not for an omnipotent God. He had an answer for the people of Judah. He didn’t leave them destitute, alone, holding fistfuls of dirt in their hands. He gave them a promise:
So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten… Joel 2:25
“I will restore to you the years…”— what a beautiful promise, from the only One who can even make such a claim and fulfill it! God’s promise to the people of Judah was that he would “restore the years”! According to human eyes and wisdom, it is an incomprehensible statement.
Today, we face a different breed of locust. We face broken marriages, sudden death, disease, financial ruin, constant pain, depression, job loss, addiction… and the list goes on. The bugs of today enjoy a feast, and then leave us behind– breathless, panting, without hope, and wondering why. We could be blindsided; at times we don’t even see the calamity until it hits. At other times, we can see the danger, hatching and growing.
Have the locusts come and eaten in your life? For some, it may seem as if the locusts have eaten way more than their share, or perhaps left nothing behind that can be seen with physical eyes.
But the promise to us is the same as it was to the people in Joel’s day: “God will restore the years the locusts have eaten”! I don’t know about you, but that promise gives me hope. Hope I need to hear.
While the locusts may have eaten away, God can restore what the locusts have taken. God can take the loss, the pain, if we allow Him, and transform it into a garden of plenty, a place where hope and joy bloom in full glory, a place where others can come and find encouragement and hope as well. God can take the all the broken places in our hearts and plant something new— the more breaks, the more room for new growth. God says,
Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and new oil, and you will be satisfied with them.” Joel 2:19
God can take the pain, the devastation, the loss and transform them into something new, if we let him. It doesn’t mean it won’t hurt. It will hurt. But we will be satisfied.
Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43: 19
God is constantly at work, and friend, I pray you take the promise of Joel 2:25 to heart.
(edited from an older post)
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Sharing in these beautiful places and some of my favorite places online:
Imperfect Prose
The Wellspring
Finding Heaven
Getting Down with Jesus
Seedlings in Stone
“God can take the pain, the devastation, the loss and transform them into something new” – oh, redemption friend, this is the beauty of life.
Oh, isn’t it? Not sure where I’d be without this hope and God’s redemptive power….
Amen! I love those verses — God gave them to me during a very dark season, and now, I am looking back and seeing His restoration. So thankful!
Would love to hear that story sometime! Is it on your blog?
see, now you are giving me blog post ideas! 🙂
🙂 Where’s the like button when you need it?
I have never thought about the locusts being so modern-day. What an interesting way to look at it and how great the promises as they carry over from generation to generation.
By the way, would you like to be part of the SDG small groups? It entails visiting the same 6 women each week as they link up at SDG. If so, will you send me an email at jenfergie2000@me.com?
Jen, I think I would like to do that! Sending you an e-mail.
What wonderful promises in God you proclaim here! Thank you for sharing the reminder of this truth … with a life in God.. nothing is really lost. Praise God for His redeeming power… He is faithful and He is good!
“with a life in God.. nothing is really lost.” That says it, in a nutshell. Thank you!
I love these words “It will hurt. But we will be satisfied.” and the promise within them.
Thanks for stopping by my blog today, blessings to you.
Those words come from Joel 2:19 “…and you will be satisfied….” After the plague, this is the promise. Beautiful, isn’t it?
i have been intimately reminded of this over the past few years, in my personal and professional life. God has taken away, and God has given. blessed be his name.
Emily… I feel it in your words… the pain, the loss and the promises, the intimate knowledge of this, the stripping away and restoration… I’m sorry for your losses, yet also rejoice with you in the healing and promises.
the story of restoration and rebirth never gets old….love the truths you bring out in this…and the hope….i like that you acknowledge the pain as well…
The stripping away (like the locusts) is painful… but our gracious God is there with arms open wide.
I am encouraged by the truth you shared. There are so many locusts I have actually invited into our home through selfishness. And I often wonder if the consequences from those swarms will follow us forever. Thank you for reminding me God restores!
Oh Cristal, your comment makes me think about what I am responsible for; I too have done this.
Hmmm… how long do the swarms follow? What do you think? We do have consequences for our mistakes. Even with forgiveness, we have to face the outcomes of our own choices. But– forever– you mean our lifetime? I’d love to chat with you more, hear your thoughts and ideas.
I’ve been enjoying your blog; so thought-provoking!
I’m just envisioning what it would look like to have all those locusts zooming overhead, and then imagining now if we could “see” the havoc inflicted by these other “locusts” that you describe, now happening behind the closed doors and windows of neighbors’ home. And what locusts are lurking here, even in my own home?
Powerful, friend.
You know, although I’ve often wondered about what’s happening behind neighbors’ closed doors and windows, I hadn’t actually visualized it in such a way as the havoc inflicted by locusts! And then to imagine what might be lurking here in my own home? You bring it even deeper, closer to home.
And I feel as if this post isn’t finished yet– there is more to it, the layer you’ve added here… maybe there should be a part 2? Thank you for sharing these thoughts, friend,
Wow, those stats about locusts really bring the reality to life. And the analogy you make, what great imagery for today. I don’t know how I have missed our blog in the past seven months of blogging but so glad to find you. Thanks for following over at my place. It’s a pleasure to meet you.
Thank you, Shelly, so glad to meet you as well; your blog is a beautiful place. I’m not sure how I missed you, either! But glad to find you. I love your title “Redemption’s Beauty”; that is a lovely image for a lovely soul.
Oh, amen, sister. We have more than 80 different types, don’t we? So grateful that He can return the wasted years.
We have so many more than 80 varieties of locusts, don’t we? I am so grateful that He restores those years the locusts steal. So, so grateful.
Laura, more than 80… oh we certainly do…. And I too am grateful!