Hurricane Laura smashing into Louisiana. Wildfires consuming thousands of acres in California, Oregon and Washington state. We’ve hit the half-year mark in our battle with COVID, with a vaccine still months away, at best. Oh, and a glance at the calendar reminds us that, regardless of our overwhelming military might, America is not immune from the threat of terrorist attacks on our soil. No, anyone who still clings to the notion that we Americans are somehow in control of world events isn’t paying very close attention.

At the time Joel wrote his prophecy, a similar set of overwhelming disasters was facing the people of God. A plague of locusts was ravaging their country, consuming their grape vines, their fields of grain, and their olive and fig trees (Joel 1:9-12). The pastures for their sheep and cattle were destroyed (Joel 1:18). The destruction was as great as that done by any of those modern fires along the Pacific Coast (Joel 1:19-20).

At the same time, the people remained in constant danger of military invasion (Joel 2:2-3). And over the years, many successive hostile armies had in fact invaded and overwhelmed them: the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans. We’re not exactly sure when Joel received this word from the Lord, but it would have remained shockingly contemporary to God’s people for most of the 700 years that preceded the birth of Christ.

So, what lessons are we supposed to learn when we become overwhelmed by circumstances beyond our control, when our helplessness can no longer be denied? The first is as simple as it is obvious. God still cries out, “Return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping and mourning” (Joel 2:12). No, we may never know why all these calamities have befallen us. And we don’t have to pinpoint a particular sin or sins that may have triggered all our trouble. We simply need to admit that we are in way over our heads and turn to the One Who really is in charge. We need to surrender to Him, submitting to His authority over every aspect of our lives. And if our newfound sense of helplessness thus drives us to our knees before the Almighty God, it will have been a great blessing to us.

But at the same time, we can take comfort in the love that God has for all those who come to Him in faith: “For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness and relenting of evil” (Joel 2:13). And if we truly worship Him, making Him the focus and purpose of our lives, we can have hope that He will restore our worldly blessings as well – for then instead of being a source of pride to us, they will be a source of thanksgiving to God and a reason to give Him glory for all His good gifts (Joel 2:14).

So, no matter what is going on in our lives, let us return to God. For then we can be sure of His welcome and His pardon, of His love and grace – regardless of the storms that rage all around us.

Joel 2:1-14 (NASB)

Blow a trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of the LORD is coming; Surely it is near,
2 A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn is spread over the mountains, So there is a great and mighty people; There has never been anything like it, Nor will there be again after it To the years of many generations.
3 A fire consumes before them, And behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, But a desolate wilderness behind them, And nothing at all escapes them.
4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like war horses, so they run.
5 With a noise as of chariots They leap on the tops of the mountains, Like the crackling of a flame of fire consuming the stubble, Like a mighty people arranged for battle.
6 Before them the people are in anguish; All faces turn pale.
7 They run like mighty men; They climb the wall like soldiers; And they each march in line, Nor do they deviate from their paths.
8 They do not crowd each other; They march everyone in his path. When they burst through the defenses, They do not break ranks.
9 They rush on the city, They run on the wall; They climb into the houses, They enter through the windows like a thief.
10 Before them the earth quakes, The heavens tremble, The sun and the moon grow dark, And the stars lose their brightness.
11 And the LORD utters His voice before His army; Surely His camp is very great, For strong is he who carries out His word. The day of the LORD is indeed great and very awesome, And who can endure it?
12 “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping, and mourning;
13 And rend your heart and not your garments.” Now return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness, And relenting of evil.
14 Who knows whether He will not turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him, Even a grain offering and a libation For the LORD your God?