Praising God for the Storm

Though I wasn't going to blog this week about my sermon, I can't help but share this.

I have been so ministered to by the text for my sermon last Sunday.  The sermon was from Joel 1:1-12.  You can find the audio here.  Normally I am most ministered to by the text of my sermon in the week preceding that sermon rather than the week following.  This week has been different.

Joel 1 presents a locust plague that ravaged Jerusalem and Judah.  It was so bad that the elders couldn’t remember anything like it ever happening, the drunkards didn't have anything else to drink, and the farmers were left with nothing from their crops.  It was devastating.

It is clear from the passage that this locust plague was an instrument of God's judgment on His people.  They had undoubtedly wandered far from Him, though we aren't really given a lot of specifics concerning their sin.  God intended this locust plague to wake up His people and draw them back to Him.

The beautiful thing is that God did not send this judgment and then leave His people to their own devices.  He gave them His Word through the Prophet Joel.  The book opens with these words: "The word of the Lord that came to Joel," (Joel 1:1).  He gave them His Word because He had not forgotten about them and intended to use this locust invasion to draw them back to Himself.

That's great, but how does it apply to us today?  We aren't facing a locust plague.  The predicted 12+ inches of snow falling outside my window right now is the closest we have to a natural disaster at the moment.  Granted, that much snowfall cannot be taken lightly in rural Southside Virginia.

While we are not experiencing a disaster anywhere near what the people of God experienced in Joel's day, we do face troubles and difficulties in our lives.  I was reminded of this reality in a conversation I had after the worship service.  I was particularly reminded of this on Monday as I thought about various things that were currently going on in my life.  During that moment, the Lord spoke to me and said, "Remember how you told my people on Sunday that I use trials to draw them back to me?  That is what I am doing in your life right now.  Draw near to me, and I will draw near to you."  The Spirit of God enabled me in the moment to not only praise God in the midst of the storm, but I was able to praise Him for the storm itself.  God was and is drawing me to Him through the storm.

I was able to share this truth with a couple in my church on Monday night.  After that, I was able to share the same truth with a friend over the phone.  Today I sat with a member of our church who is in a nursing facility experiencing chronic pain, and shared this truth.

I hope that this blog post is another way for me to share this truth.  What difficulties are you facing?  God desires to use them to draw you to Him.  Will you praise Him not only in spite of the difficulties, but because of the difficulties?  Will you allow Him to draw you to Himself through the trials and troubles?  My hope is that this post is an encouragement to do just that.