January 4, 2026
The God of the Second Chance: Understanding Joel 2:25
“So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten. The crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you.” – Joel 2:25 (NKJV)
The “locust” represent the past: those seasons of our lives that feel wasted, destroyed, or stolen by worry, anxiety, mistakes, and regrets. Maybe that worry is furthered by the feeling that you have “missed it”. That so many years of your life have been wasted by the time you spent struggling with anxiety. To be honest, my “locusts” have been swarming and consuming me for the past fifteen plus years. But you don’t have to live like that. It’s about time I realized that I don’t have to either. We can ask God to restore us-not just to who we were, but to who He intended us to be. As 1 John 5:14-15 (NIV) promises, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us-and if He hears us, we know we have what we asked of Him. We don’t have to live in the shadow of worry and regrets anymore. God isn’t just waiting for us; He is already working to reclaim every year the “locusts” took.
Challenge for Today: We all have days, weeks, maybe years, we would like to reclaim. While He won’t send you back in time, He will make up for that time. He will make your days, moving forward, the best they can be. Grab a sticky note, index card, or piece of paper and write: “God will restore me.” Put it on your mirror, computer, or anywhere you have access to it. Let it be a reminder that better days are coming.
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