Joel 2:25 AMPC And I will restore or replace for you the years that the locust has eaten-the hopping locust, the stripping locust, and the crawling locust, My great army which I sent among you.
Waking up in Kingman's Wallmart car park, on the way to the Grand Canyon, our RV was covered in locusts! Perhaps not a plague, but quite a swarm, had arrived overnight. Fascinated, I took a picture from the front seat [see above].
Today is the anniversary of my personal release from a situation that had "imprisoned" me for a long period of my life.
A great friend, who I look on as a mentor and pastor, shared the above verse with me on that very day.
Now, looking back, I can see how God has fulfilled and continues to unfold this promise - praise the Lord.
Some info about locusts cribbed from National Geographic:
"A desert locust swarm can be 460 square miles in size and pack between 40 and 80 million locusts into less than half a square mile. Each locust can eat its weight in plants each day. Therefore, a swarm the size of Paris can eat the same amount of food in one day as half the population of France."
They do immense damage and leave virtually nothing in their wake.
A solitary locust doesn't do much harm, but in swarms they devastate.
You may, like me, have felt decimated by life's trials at times, stripped bare, with nothing to show for your effort!
Take heart, Job went through such terrible loss, but, in the end, God turned his life around.
Job 42:10 AMPC And the Lord turned the captivity of Job and restored his fortunes, when he prayed for his friends; also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.
There is something mysterious about why the Lord allows suffering and trials to encroach on our lives.
God's ways and purposes are beyond our understanding. Isaiah 55:9
Corrie ten Boom, one of my spiritual heroes, went through terrible suffering in Ravensbruck concentration camp, after being caught sheltering Jews during WW2, but she went on to have a worldwide ministry, spreading the Good News of Jesus. People listened to her because of what she had been through. It gave her authenticity. Her life still speaks to us today.
Our Heavenly Father is faithful to His children and will not allow more to come on us than we can bear [although it can feel like it at the time].
So hold on, help is coming, in the end, He will restore what has been lost. By the way, it may be in Heaven:
Romans 8:17-18
And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him.
Isaiah 61:7 AMPC Instead of your [former] shame you shall have a twofold recompense; instead of dishonour and reproach [your people] shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double [what they had forfeited]; everlasting joy shall be theirs.
Restore O Lord:
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