Using the opportunity for a closer walk with God (Joel 2:18-32)

After a year working with a mission in the UK reaching out to international students, I returned home to Hungary feeling like a failure. What I had hoped would turn into a long-term ministry did not work out that way, mainly because I felt like a square peg in a round hole in the role. Not knowing what else to do, I took on a job language teaching but within a few months realised that this was not a good fit either. I was at a loss to know what else to do as I made the decision to leave that job and saw no prospects and no idea which way to turn. Crying out to God though is never in vain. By His grace, the Lord intervened on my behalf and within a couple of days, there was an opening for an administrative role and an hour after the interview I got the phone call and was offered the job. What I remember most was the sense of closeness to the Lord for opening a way, where seemed to be no way.

A deepened relationship

I can imagine the people in Israel looking out at their devastated and barren fields and the hopelessness they felt. Yet the Lord promises through Joel that He will make a way if the people turn to Him (Joel 2:13). In fact, our reading starts with what is sometimes called ‘prophetic perfects’, in which God describes His response in the past tense (‘the LORD was zealous’, ‘had pity’, ‘answered’, Joel 2:18-19). He will indeed remove the plague of locusts (Joel 2:20) and make up for what was lost in agricultural bounty (Joel 2:25). While the response will predictably be joy, this is not simply meant to be a delight in Israel’s improved circumstances, but an opportunity for a deepened relationship with Him. The people are encouraged to rejoice and be glad ‘in the LORD your God’ (Joel 2:23), ‘to praise the name of the LORD your God’ (Joel 2:26). Through the events and their acknowledgement of what God will have done for them, they will know the Lord as their God, in their midst (Joel 2:27).

The outpouring of the Spirit

Just as the earlier prophecies looked from the immediate locust plague to a future ‘day of the LORD’, so God’s restoration in the near future and the closer bond with Him is but a foretaste of His promise to pour out His Spirit on all, irrespective of gender, age or social status (Joel 2:28-29). In the Old Testament, God’s Spirit was only given to a select few to enable ministry (e.g. kings, prophets were typically so endowed), but there is the promise of a relationship with God that will draw closer all those who are His (cf. Ezek 36:26-27). The apostle Peter quoted these verses to explain the events of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-21), although Joel’s description of ‘the day of the LORD’ (Joel 2:30-32) suggests that some aspects of it are still in the future. Whether in the final judgment or in the here and now, however, those who call on God and trust in Him will find help and salvation.

Using the opportunity for a closer walk with God

What emerges from our reading is a great sense of encouragement. When we turn to God in repentance for wrong decisions, for living lives contrary to the Lord’s will or simply in our ongoing walk with Him, we find a Saviour who is keen to help and looks on us with compassion. The most important lesson to learn from Joel is to use these opportunities for a closer walk with Him, to strengthen the ties by acknowledging the Lord and what He has done for us. So often, we look to our own strength and resources to solve our problems, but we are reminded that whether our needs involve the transforming of our circumstances or the transforming of our hearts, we depend on the Lord alone.

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