Years Restored

I was reading the Old Testament book of Joel earlier this week. It has a remarkable message.

Much of the book concerns the judgment of God. The people had sinned, and as a result God had sent an extended plague of locusts, destroying their land to an extent that they had never seen.

And, then God made a promise. Not only would judgment cease and mercy return, but He would also "restore the years that the locusts had eaten."

All of us who have wasted years and underachieved or paid a price for personal failures, whether we regard those wastes and failures as divine judgment or merely the residuals of bad decision making, can find hope in that thought. Whatever potential or hope seems to have been lost, there is hope in a gracious God who can restore wasted years.