12 “Even now,” declares the LORD,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
13 Rend your heart
and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity.
14 Who knows? He may turn and have pity
and leave behind a blessing—...—The words of the Prophet Joel from Joel 2:12-14a
If I insist that “It’s a crazy world out there!” will you disagree with me? I think not. While I am not a proponent of longing for the “good old days,” I am keenly aware that fifty years ago we lived in a much simpler, and generally calmer, world.
Now, at every turn, we face a marked increase in the amount of overtly discernible sin. Chaos reigns throughout our government, the economy, the church, and far too many of our personal lives. I don’t know about you, but I long for some comfort and some joy.
The other day, I heard an old, familiar Christmas carol on the radio. “God rest ye merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay. Remember Christ the Savior was born on Christmas Day.” The carol goes on to speak of “O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy.”
I don’t know why I never put those two words together in my mind so clearly before. But, as I think about it, “comfort” and “joy” do seem to go together. When God grants us comfort, He also brings us joy!
In the Scripture passage at the beginning of this blog post, the Prophet Joel urges us to return to the Lord our God. And, not only does he urge us to return, he urges us to return with all our hearts.
A wholehearted return to God. That’s exactly what we need in the midst of this crazy world. A wholehearted return to God would give us comfort in the midst of the chaos of our lives. A wholehearted return to God would not only comfort us, it would give us great joy.
Will you pray with me?
Thank You, God, for loving us. Thank You for sending Jesus to be our Savior. Thank You for sending us Your Holy Spirit to dwell within us. We bow before You and humbly acknowledge that, more than anything else, we desire to return to You with our whole hearts. We ask You to help us—to enable us by the power of Your Holy Spirit—to love you with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. We consciously give you our emotions, our intellect, our spiritual being, and our physical being.
Precious Father, having acknowledged our desire to love You with the totality of our beings, we wait expectantly and reverently for a great outpouring of Your comfort and Your joy.
Please continue to use Your Word to help us clearly see the illumination You provide to enlighten the pathway of our lives. And, thank You, dear Father, for hearing our prayer in and through the precious Name of Your Son, Jesus, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
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