In Joel 2:25, God promises to “restore the years eaten away by the locust” in our lives. In this verse, the Old Testament Hebrew means to ‘make restitution, to repay good for evil’,” in other words, to make it right. This Scripture always reminds me of my life before I became a Christian as it was full of drugs, alcohol, men/sex, abuse and more. God has certainly restored the years in my life since then hasn’t He? Yet, during this time of my life the verse is having a more present effect on me. I’m thinking about my life as a believer and the mistakes I’ve made along my journey in Christ. Does this verse apply to me now?
Over the last few months the Lord has taken me on a much deeper journey with Him that has challenged me to look more intently at my heart and motives. During this process I’ve been reminded of sin I’ve committed that I’ve overlooked or ignored for a long period of time. Sin is an act of unbelief. When we choose our way over God’s, we are saying that we know better than He, that we can take care of ourselves, and that we don’t need Him. We become the proverbial living sacrifice that crawls off the altar to do our own will.
Sin is a real lack of faith too. If faith is a combination of belief and trust, I’m missing the boat on one or both of those aspects. When I gossip and am I really trusting God? When I tell a lie do I really believe God’s Word and what He has to say about truth? Am I walking in faith when I’m spending money I shouldn’t be spending all the while asking God to provide for us? The truth is my lack of faith could fill pages.
When I think about God repaying good for evil in my life, I can’t help but think about how Jesus died for my sin. It makes no sense that my King would die for me and the ugliness of my sin, yet He did, and that sacrifice carries over to my sin of today, it’s just not for my life before I became a believer. He restores the years (weeks, days, hours) eaten away by locust everyday if we ask Him to in prayer. Restoration is a daily, sometimes moment-by-moment experience if we accept it.
Not-so-ironically, Webster’s Dictionary offers the definition for restore as ‘to place or put a King back on His throne’. Part of the process of confession and repentance for me during this period of time has been getting to the root of sin by asking myself where I’ve literally kicked God off the proverbial throne in my heart and put myself in His place. Where am I running the show, believing I’ve got a better edge on life than He has? Where in my life has pride overtaken me and become a crown of sin on my head?
Thankfully, we serve a God who is ever-ready to forgive us when we ask, and equally as eager to restore those days, weeks, months, or even years that we’ve taken over the throne in our hearts, and make something good out of it. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purposes.” The idea that God can take my sin and use it for His purposes is astounding to me. That is the greatest restoration of years eaten away by the locust that I can imagine.
My prayer for you during this time is that you too will look closely at your heart and see where you’ve taken over the throne room and made yourself King. It’s a humbling walk to take, but one that is necessary for true intimacy with Christ Jesus our Lord. Run, run, run to the throne room, and join me in putting the King back where He belongs: on the throne of our hearts.
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