Return to Me

Joel

There are moments when God allows something to happen that gets our attention.

That is exactly what happened in the book of Joel.

The people of Judah had experienced a devastating invasion of locusts. Joel describes wave after wave sweeping across the land. Crops were destroyed. Fields were ruined. Food disappeared. The economy was devastated. What had once been green and fruitful was now barren.

Joel looked at the destruction and told the people that they needed to wake up.

This was not simply an agricultural disaster. God was using a physical crisis to expose a spiritual problem.

Sometimes God allows the things we depend on to be shaken so that we will remember the One we should have been depending on all along.

Sometimes God Uses Crisis to Wake Us Up

Joel begins by telling the people to pay attention.

"Hear this, you elders; give ear, all inhabitants of the land!" (Joel 1:2)

In other words, do not waste this moment.

The locusts had consumed everything. What one swarm left behind, another swarm devoured. The people could not simply ignore what was happening and continue living as though everything were normal.

God was trying to get their attention.

We need to be careful here. Not every difficult circumstance in our lives is God's direct punishment for a particular sin. Scripture does not give us permission to look at every tragedy and assume we know exactly why God allowed it.

But Scripture does teach us that suffering has a way of exposing what is happening inside us.

When the things we depend on disappear, we discover what we were really trusting.

When our plans fall apart, we discover how much confidence we had placed in our ability to control our lives.

When comfort is removed, we discover how much comfort had become our god.

There are times when God allows our world to be shaken because He loves us too much to allow us to remain spiritually asleep.

The question is not simply, "How do I get out of this?"

Sometimes the better question is, "God, what are You trying to show me?"

The Day of the Lord Is Coming

Joel takes the immediate devastation around him and points to something much bigger.

He calls it "the day of the LORD."

That phrase becomes one of the great themes of the Minor Prophets. The Day of the Lord refers to God's decisive intervention in human history. It is a day when evil is confronted, sin is judged, God's enemies are defeated, and God's purposes are accomplished.

Joel looked at the locust invasion and essentially said, "If you think this is serious, there is a greater day coming."

That is a message our culture does not particularly like to hear.

We love talking about the love of God, and we should. God is love. His mercy is greater than we can comprehend. His patience toward sinners is extraordinary.

But the Bible never separates God's love from His holiness.

There is coming a day when every person will stand before God.

Sin matters.

Rebellion matters.

How we respond to God matters.

The patience of God should never be confused with the permission of God.

God's delay in judgment is mercy. He is giving sinners an opportunity to repent.

God Wants More Than Outward Religion

In the middle of Joel's warning, we find one of the most beautiful invitations in the entire book.

"Yet even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart." (Joel 2:12)

I love those words: "Yet even now."

After the rebellion.

After the wandering.

After the warnings.

After the devastation.

God still says, "Return to Me."

But notice what God wants. He does not simply want religious activity.

Joel says, "Rend your hearts and not your garments." (Joel 2:13)

In the ancient world, tearing your clothing was an outward expression of grief and repentance. But it was possible to tear your clothes without ever allowing God to change your heart.

And it is still possible today.

You can attend church and never repent.

You can sing worship songs and never surrender.

You can carry a Bible and never obey it.

You can know Christian language, participate in Christian activities, and even convince everyone around you that you are walking with God while your heart remains far from Him.

God says, "I don't simply want your religious appearance. I want your heart."

Real repentance is not feeling bad that you got caught. It is not simply regretting the consequences of your decisions.

Repentance is turning from sin and returning to God.

We Return Because of Who God Is

Joel does not merely tell the people to return. He tells them why they can return.

"For he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love." (Joel 2:13)

That changes everything.

We do not repent because God is standing at a distance waiting to crush us.

We repent because the God we have sinned against is gracious and merciful.

He is slow to anger.

He abounds in steadfast love.

The enemy wants you to believe that you have wandered too far. He wants you to believe that you have failed too many times. He wants you to believe that there is no point in coming back to God because God could never want you after what you have done.

Joel says otherwise.

"Yet even now."

You may have wasted years.

Yet even now.

You may have made decisions you deeply regret.

Yet even now.

You may have allowed your heart to grow cold toward God.

Yet even now.

If God is calling you to repentance, the door of grace is still open.

God Can Restore What Sin Has Destroyed

One of the most familiar promises in Joel comes after the call to repentance.

God says, "I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten." (Joel 2:25)

That does not mean God promises to erase every earthly consequence of every bad decision. Sometimes our choices leave scars. Sometimes there are consequences that remain.

But it does mean that our failures do not get the final word.

God is able to take what appears wasted and use it for His glory.

He can redeem broken years.

He can restore broken relationships.

He can take someone who has spent years running from Him and use that person to reach others with the Gospel.

God specializes in redemption.

Your past may explain part of your story, but if you belong to Jesus, your past does not determine the ending.

God Promised to Pour Out His Spirit

Joel then looks beyond Judah's immediate restoration and sees something extraordinary.

God says, "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh." (Joel 2:28)

Centuries later, after Jesus had died, risen from the grave, and ascended to heaven, the disciples gathered in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost.

The Holy Spirit came upon them.

And when Peter stood to explain what was happening, he quoted Joel.

This was the promise.

God's Spirit would not be reserved for a select few. Sons and daughters would prophesy. Young and old would experience the work of God. God's Spirit would be poured out upon His people.

And immediately the Gospel began moving outward.

People from different nations heard the mighty works of God proclaimed. Thousands believed. The church was born, and the mission Jesus had given His disciples began spreading toward the nations.

Joel was looking forward to a day when God's presence would dwell powerfully among His people and God's salvation would be proclaimed to the world.

Everyone Who Calls on the Lord Can Be Saved

Joel 2:32 gives us the great hope at the center of the book:

"And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved."

Everyone.

That promise reaches far beyond Judah.

Paul later quotes these words in Romans 10 as he explains the Gospel and the necessity of taking that Gospel to the nations.

There is not one Gospel for one group of people and another Gospel for somebody else.

There is one Savior.

Jesus Christ.

And everyone who calls upon Him can be saved.

That is why missions matter.

People cannot call upon someone they have never believed in. They cannot believe in someone they have never heard about. And they cannot hear unless someone tells them.

The promise of Joel should create urgency in the church.

The Day of the Lord is coming, but right now the Gospel invitation is still going out.

Jesus Is Our Hope on the Day of the Lord

Joel leaves us with two realities that we cannot separate.

Judgment is coming, and salvation is available.

How can both be true?

The answer is Jesus.

At the cross, Jesus took the judgment our sin deserved.

The Day of the Lord should terrify guilty sinners because none of us can stand before a holy God based upon our own righteousness.

But Jesus stood in our place.

He carried our sin.

He received our judgment.

He died the death we deserved.

Then three days later, He walked out of the grave.

Because of Jesus, the coming Day of the Lord does not have to be a day we fear. For those who have trusted Christ, it is the day our Savior makes everything right.

That is why Joel's message is both a warning and an invitation.

Wake up.

Return to God.

Call upon the name of the Lord.

And then take that message to somebody who has never heard it.

Next Steps

1. Ask God what He is trying to show you. Do not waste the moments when life gets shaken. Allow God to expose anything that has taken His place in your heart.
2. Return to God with your whole heart. Do not settle for outward religion. Confess your sin, turn from it, and come back to the God who is gracious and merciful.
3. Stop believing your wasted years are beyond God's redemption. Your past does not have to determine your future. Surrender what has been broken to the God who restores.
4. Tell someone how they can call upon the Lord. The Day of the Lord is coming, and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord can be saved. Ask God to give you an opportunity to share Jesus with someone who needs to hear.

The message of Joel is urgent, but it is filled with hope.

The Day of the Lord is coming.

But today God is still calling.

"Yet even now... return to me with all your heart."

If you have wandered, come home.

If you have never trusted Jesus, call upon His name.

And if you know Him, go tell somebody else that salvation is available.