The Pain of Lost Expectations
Joel doesn’t start out warning about what was going to happen in the future. He points to what has happening in the present. This was the reality in which the people were living. They were beaten by their enemies and on the verge of starvation because locust had devoured everything the invading hordes did not. Verse 8 stands out to me as I read today’s reading. It says, “Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the bridegroom of her youth.” Perhaps this struck me so much because it reminded me of the pain of a miscarriage. Let me explain this type of mourning. Long before the wedding day, a young girl/woman was betrothed to the man who would become her husband. Years would pass as preparations were made. When everything was settled upon and prepared, then the wedding and the consummation of that wedding would actually take place. Joel compares the type of mourning his people should experience to be that of a young girl or woman who had spent years preparing for a life that would never come. Before the wedding could take place, the bridegroom died. It is the same as a miscarriage. You spend weeks and months preparing for the coming of a child you will never hold in your arms and never watch become an adult.
As a country, we long for greatness. We long for prosperity and comfort in our lives. Instead, we see war, famine, fires, earthquakes, floods… The fairytale of happily ever after often fails to ever bloom. We are left with wanting more and feeling somehow jilted. The same can be said of our spiritual walk. We want to see mountains move and obstacles throw themselves out of the way. We want life to be blessed and easy, but we find it very far from a leisurely stroll. We suffer at the hands of friends and family. We face persecution and struggles. We have trials to overcome and temptations to avoid. Some of these things are blessings in disguise. Some of them play important roles in God’s plan and purpose for our lives. Then there are those which come because of the rebellion of man.
Psalm 33:12 tells us, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom He has chosen as His heritage!”. However, Isaiah 60:12 gives us the flip-side of this promise. It says, “For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; those nations shall be utterly laid waste.” We should not be surprised by the calamity all around us when our nation has turned its back on their God. It is the same if we turn our heart from the Lord. When we ignore His rules to satisfy our own desires, we cannot expect to receive blessings from Him. The warning of Joel is not a warning for something far off. It is the here and now. It is a message of instant importance. The choices we make now, as an individual and as a country, affect the outcome and the quality of this life. To believe anything else would be to deny the power and attention of our God. God does not care if this life is comfortable. He cares that our souls are dependent on Him. He will stop at nothing to get the attention of the one who has wandered away.
Whether you are the one who is lost or the ninety-nine awaiting His return, all pay the price for the iniquity of sin. For this reason, we should not be surprised when disaster strikes. Rather, like Joel and so many of his contemporaries, we should point out the truth hidden in the trial so that all who hear will turn their hearts back to their God and be saved.
(Written by Keegan Harkins.)
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