Joel 2:23-27

I was reading over again the Book of Joel and I came across the passage in chapter 2:23-27. In the version we read in class it reads,

" So rejoice, O sons of Zion, And be glad in the Lord your God; for He has given you the early rain for your vindication and He has poured down for you the rain, the early and the latter rain as before. The threshing floors will be full of grain, and the vats will overflow with the new wine and oil. Then I will make up to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the creeping locusts, the stripping locust and the gnawing locust, My great army which I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; Then my people will never be put to shame. Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and there is no other and My people will never be put to shame."

After I reread this scripture in the version from class it made me want to look it up in the amplified version. It does not change much, except for a few words here and there, and it really made me think about my own life. Right now I am going through a very tough time, in trying to manage everything I have going on in my life. It is very hard and I have had to sacrifice many things. However, every time I turn to the Bible, I feel as if God is trying to remind me that the time I sacrifice for things that I have made a commitment to, He will be faithful to replenish and restore everything that I am giving up. The locusts in this story represents everything that is eating my time away. My time to eat, sleep and even do homework has been stripped away from me, causing my brain and body to go into overload. I have literally felt as if the world is spinning and I am simply going through the motions. None- the- less, today I was finally able to work out and clear my mind and after that, that is when this scripture found itself on my desk for me to read.

In verse 23 it instructs us to rejoice in the Lord our God because that is where a great deal of our strength comes from. Hence, "the joy of the Lord is our strength." I know that if the devil can rob me of my joy than I am most likely to be down and depressed throughout my day. However, I also know that it is simple a decision to change your attitude and this CAN BE DONE. With the promises of Christ and the joy the comes from knowing Him, will be my strong tower, in which I lean on for all my strength. Throughout this season of my life, I have learned that joy can only be released by making the decision not to allow adverse circumstances to rule my emotional and mental status. For the devil knows if he can defeat me in my mind, he can defeat me in my situation. But this will not happen, because I truly do believe that the moments we have right now, is all that we are promised, so rejoice in them no matter how stressful they are. For at the end, when all is said in done, if we do not rejoice in the midst of our worries, what was it all for to begin with??? We, myself included need to get to the point where no matter what is going on around us, we can still be consistently happy and at peace.

By pressing in God's word and staying focused, I know that this too will pass and Christ will be faithful to restore the things that have been stripped away from me these past couple of weeks. Through this scripture I know that I can have the strength to overcome because His joy lives in me.