I’ve been thinking today about how God is a redeemer–of people, of time, of wasted years. I can think of several times in my life where I have spent time chasing after things that in the end, didn’t really amount to much. They were temporary or ephmeral or just not ordained by God. At the end of my chasing when I would realize the folly of my pursuit, I would realize how much time, effort, energy, thought, and emotion I had wated in pursuit of things not eternal.
But, today I’ve had sense of how God redeems time and our empty pursuits. Finding my heart’s true home in Christ, instead of my chasing, makes all the difference. When I leave the warm comfort of that true place, then I waste time and energy. I’m lost and wandering. Seated in the presence of God’s holy hearth fire, I am renewed and redeemed.
In this passage from Joel, God promises abundant showers and a plentiful harvest. He promises to redeem the years the locust have eaten. He takes what is desolate and barren and brings forth an overflowing harvest of praise.
Fear not, Earth! Be glad and celebrate!
God has done great things.
Fear not, wild animals!
The fields and meadows are greening up.
The trees are bearing fruit again:
a bumper crop of fig trees and vines!
Children of Zion, celebrate!
Be glad in your God.
He’s giving you a teacher
to train you how to live right—
Teaching, like rain out of heaven, showers of words
to refresh and nourish your soul, just as he used to do.
And plenty of food for your body—silos full of grain,
casks of wine and barrels of olive oil.
“I’ll make up for the years of the locust,
the great locust devastation—
Locusts savage, locusts deadly,
fierce locusts, locusts of doom,
That great locust invasion
I sent your way.
You’ll eat your fill of good food.
You’ll be full of praises to your God,
The God who has set you back on your heels in wonder.
Never again will my people be despised.
You’ll know without question
that I’m in the thick of life with Israel,
That I’m your God, yes, your God,
the one and only real God.
Joel 2:21-27 from The Message
