Even when life feels utterly hopeless and lost, God’s grace intervenes, declaring, ‘Yet even now,’ offering a message of hope.
My blog article yesterday discussed a seemingly hopeless situation: our nation and the world in chaos, with human life suffering greatly.
God tells us that chaos and trouble are not inevitable. By responding to His grace, we have the opportunity to transform the situation.
“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“Return to Me with all your heart,
And with fasting, weeping and mourning;
“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. (Joel 2.12-13)
Jesus told a parable about a prodigal son. He squandered all the gifts that his father had given him and found himself starving in a hog pen. It was there that he came to himself and said, “I will return to my father.”
The prodigal’s return and Joel’s words describe what we need to do to respond to God’s gracious invitation when he says, “Yet even now.”
Fasting often involves abstaining from food as a religious practice to deepen our spiritual connection with God. It can also arise from a heart so troubled that eating becomes difficult.
When we merge this state of brokenness with our sense of being lost, we fast, mourn and weep as we return to our loving Father.
In ancient times, tearing one’s shirt was a common sign of mourning. However, God is not seeking such outward acts. Instead, He desires a broken heart, open to being shaped by Him into the kind of people He wishes us to become.
The Psalm writer describes the attitudes and actions that God is looking for.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. (Psalm 51:17)
For several years, I kept a broken piece of concrete on the bookshelf behind my desk. It served as a reminder of the difference between a hard heart and a contrite heart.
That rock would not fit into a beautiful glass vase, but if crushed to sand, it would easily mold to the contours of the vase.
God cannot work with my hard heart, but when I am contrite or crushed, it is easy for Him to fashion me into the person He wants me to be.
This is the key transformational element found in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, Joel’s message, and David’s prayer in the Psalms.
God’s Response
God is not a vending machine that supplies what we want based on our right actions toward Him. God is sovereign and He is free to act according to His will and what He knows is best and right for us.
Therefore, after all the efforts of repentance, the people who pray and come to God understand that it is up to God to decide whether or not He will turn and leave a blessing.
Who knows whether He will not turn and relent
And leave a blessing behind Him,
Even a grain offering and a drink offering
For the Lord your God? (Joel 2.14)
The prodigal son had nothing to give to God while he was starving in the hog pen. The same was true of famished Israelites.
They hoped that their return to God would not only give them food to eat, but enough food that they could leave God an offering too.
Our Response
I once described myself as a Monday morning armchair general. This is the image of people who, on Monday, critique football games that they watched on Sunday.
We can do the same thing with world events. We can sit in our armchairs and discuss all the ways we would do things differently than politicians and business leaders.
Better than being a Monday morning armchair general, let’s come to God as prescribed by Joel and bring our brokenness to Him for the sake of this world that is perishing.
YouTube Video
Rudy Ross and I discuss this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.
Real Voices 