“I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten…” (Joel 2:25 ESV).
The prophet Joel announced to Judah that the Lord would soon discipline them with a devastating locust plague. These “locust years” represented more than agricultural loss; they were a sign of covenant judgment, seasons where the consequences of sin would leave the land stripped and the people humbled. Yet Joel also proclaimed that the same God who would send the locusts would graciously reverse the devastation if His people repented and returned to Him with all their heart. He promised not merely a return of crops but a comprehensive restoration—joy, fellowship, and fruitfulness renewed. Embedded in this promise was a deeper hope pointing beyond Joel’s day: the Lord Himself would one day bring ultimate renewal through His Messiah. In Him, even the years wasted by sin, sorrow, and spiritual barrenness would not be beyond the reach of God’s redeeming power.
We know what it feels like to look back on seasons of life that seem wasted. Some years were devoured by our own choices, others by hardships we didn’t choose, still others by spiritual dryness that crept in unnoticed. Yet we are invited to hear the Lord’s tender promise spoken through Joel—not as a sentimental slogan, but as covenant truth anchored in Christ. When we repent, returning to the Lord with sincerity, He meets us not with scolding but with mercy. He is able to recover what we lost, to redeem the time we squandered, and to replace barren fields with fruitfulness we could never produce on our own. In Jesus, the promise widens: no loss is final, no season is beyond repair, and nothing the “locust years” consumed is beyond His restoring hand. Let us lean into this hope together and trust Him to fulfill His word, knowing that Christ is able to restore the years the locust has eaten.
PRAYER: Dear Father, we come to You with honesty about past regrets and wasted years. We confess our sin, our wanderings, and our helplessness apart from Your grace. Restore the years the locusts have eaten. Renew our joy and fill us afresh with Your Spirit. We trust Your power to redeem what we have lost and to make all things new in Christ. In Jesus’ name, amen.