“Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things.” Joel 2:21
When we turn back and see what happened last year, there could be instances where we would have faced disappointments, frustrations, anguish and fears. We often felt discouraged when things didn’t go the way we expected. We questioned God as, “why do such things happen to me?”, “Why should I live with this pain?” and so on. In times of distress, we didn’t take our burdens to the Lord in prayer and so went astray and sinned against Him. We failed to realise that God is in control of our circumstances and He has a purpose in everything that happens in our lives. As we enter the New Year, God calls us to repent of our past sinful deeds. “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;” (Joel 2:12). The repentance God calls us for is not an outward change but inward. Joel 2:13 says, “Rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.”. God wants us to rely on Him rather than on ourselves and He will not let us be humiliated. He doesn’t want us to be in the darkness of fear but to be glad. Joel 2:21 says, “Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things.” God will bless us with blessings more than what we expect. He will fulfil our heart’s desire and lead us in righteousness. Joel 2:24 says, “The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil..” God will restore those times we lost in despair. Let us begin this New Year leaving the past behind us and set our focus on things God wants us to pursue. May God bless us exceedingly and abundantly and use us mightily to build His Kingdom here on earth.
