November 12, 2014
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

When Your World Dries Up

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Opening Prayer

Mighty Lord, today may the peace of God enfold me, the love of God uphold me, and the wisdom of God control me.

Read Joel 1:1-12

[1] The word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel. [2] Hear this, you elders; listen, all who live in the land. Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your ancestors? [3] Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. [4] What the locust swarm has left the great locusts have eaten; what the great locusts have left the young locusts have eaten; what the young locusts have left other locusts have eaten. [5] Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you drinkers of wine; wail because of the new wine, for it has been snatched from your lips. [6] A nation has invaded my land, a mighty army without number; it has the teeth of a lion, the fangs of a lioness. [7] It has laid waste my vines and ruined my fig trees. It has stripped off their bark and thrown it away, leaving their branches white. [8] Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth grieving for the betrothed of her youth. [9] Grain offerings and drink offerings are cut off from the house of the LORD. The priests are in mourning, those who minister before the LORD. [10] The fields are ruined, the ground is dried up; the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, the olive oil fails. [11] Despair, you farmers, wail, you vine growers; grieve for the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field is destroyed. [12] The vine is dried up and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, the palm and the apple tree- all the trees of the field-are dried up. Surely the people’s joy is withered away.

Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Reflect

“But those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Isa. 40:31, NRSV). A great word to recall in times of difficulty.

What is the worst scenario you know of or can imagine? A few years ago, I took a group to visit the former Buchenwald Concentration Camp, which saw some of the worst atrocities against humankind during the Second World War. Many of us were deeply affected as we heard stories of terrible suffering and saw the furnaces. Those who visit the camp are deliberately reminded of the huge tragedy connected with the place.

This passage, likewise, urges readers to tell succeeding generations of an unprecedented calamity that came upon Israel (2,3). Whether this was an actual locust attack or a metaphorical description of a military attack (6) is not as important as the fact that whatever happened devastated the land. Wave after wave of locust attacks spared nothing (4). Everything was stripped bare and all crops were destroyed. The phrase “dried up” is repeated to describe the total devastation. The farmers felt despair (11), the priests were mourning (9), and the people’s joy was dried up (same Hebrew word) and gone (12). It seemed like hell on earth.

Similar calamities are experienced by people around the world. For some, it is a tsunami that takes away hundreds of thousands of lives. For others, it is a destructive hurricane or tornado that wipes out towns and livelihoods. Yet others experience war, genocide or deadly epidemics. What can we do in such situations? Are we left alone in the darkness to fend for ourselves (Psa. 23:4)? Does God care? The comforting truth is that this particular calamity is connected with the coming of the word of the Lord to the prophet (1). God is not silent in the calamity (Hab. 2:1,2): he speaks a word that is ultimately reassuring and brings hope (Isa. 43:2). In any calamity (whether collective or personal) we can know that God is present and cares (Hab. 3:17,18).

Apply

As you read or watch the news, pray for those caught in serious calamities. How would you be God’s instrument for such people?

Closing prayer

Father, I need to be ready for those times when my world crumbles around me. Steady and uphold me, so I can keep my eyes on You.

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