Joel: Part 1 (Lament)
This morning found me according to my reading plan in Joel. Sitting with His Word and coffee, my coffee quickly got cold as it was replaced with pencils, highlighters, and journal entries.
In a nutshell, the surface theme of Joel is very much a call to wake up, and lament. Repent from our sin, return to our LORD, and receive the blessing and protection we get only through Him. Then rejoice that while judgment is coming, something new and perfect is also coming for those who are called to shelter in Him.
I could begin to unpack all 5 of these themes I highlighted above that were put on my heart as I read the book. However, perhaps (if the Lord wills, and I'm able) I'd love to simply, and shortly, unpack each one together.
As I have said many times, the exercise of writing helps my own thoughts and meditations - and I too will be unpacking these for my own reflections. I don't want to rush through these either, as my hope is that I will take time to meditate on each one myself, and work to apply it to my life.
After all, if we don't, are we not like the self-deceiver mentioned in James?
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. (James 1:22–25 ESV)
So today ... let us lament.
If you don't have a Bible, or don't have an app on your phone, you can also read Joel here.
What we see in Joel, and which was convicting to me, was simply a reminder of the difference between complaining and lamenting. The book I recommend below goes far more into a full and beautiful picture of biblical lament, so what I'm about to say is very much only a part of that.
Often I find that I am not lamenting, I am complaining.
I hear about tragedy, terrorism, national or state legislation that breaks my heart, local news, corporate changes, accounts of murder, pride, greed, and nationalism that puts Christ in the back seat - and it stirs me so deeply that I all too often ... well ... complain.
Yet what do we see in Joel?
Let's take a look ...
Consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly.
Gather the elders
and all the inhabitants of the land
to the house of the LORD your God,
and cry out to the LORD. (Joel 1:14 ESV)
And likewise ...
To you, O LORD, I call.
For fire has devoured
the pastures of the wilderness,
and flame has burned
all the trees of the field. (Joel 1:19 ESV)
Do we cry out? Do we fall on our knees, pray with our brothers and sisters in Christ? Or do we go to social media, comment, text a like-minded friend words filled with frustration, share memes making fun of the other's perspective, or simply outright attack.
Or ... perhaps more silently (trying to seem godly by keeping it inside) do we restrain our tongue while our heart melts in molten lava of anger as we rehearse conversations, confrontations, or even fantasize (innocently of course, because this is fine right?) of harming others with our words or actions to take revenge in our own hands.
Brothers and sisters - Matthew - this ought not to be so.
What ought we to do?
Return to the LORD
“Yet even now,” declares the LORD,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; (Joel 2:12 ESV)
What are you needing to lament right now? What are you taking right now to the altar of anger, despair, and hopelessness - instead of bringing it to the LORD?
May we simply pause on this today - and redirect our hearts toward the only one who truly knows, cares, and wants to hear the cry of your heart.
How do we know He cares?
Calvary. The Cross of Christ.
A debt had to be paid ... but how? By enough good works to hopefully out-taint the sin? By having martyrs, sacrifices, or other creative ways to "really show Him" we are sorry? No.
God's perfect love and perfect justice meet at the Cross. Sin demanded payment, and in His love, He did what only He could do.
Perfection is demanded - what on earth could be perfect enough to sacrifice and trade so that we could be free? Nothing ... nothing on earth. At least until the Perfect One came to walk on it ... the God-man - the incarnate Son of God - both fully man and fully God - was the only worthy perfect sacrifice that could make this glorious exchange happen. What exchange? Christ takes our sin, while He allows us to have the righteousness only He (the Son) deserves - so that when we come to the Father, He sees His Son, not our sin. So the exchange was made ...
Reader? Please tell me you are part of that great exchange? Please tell me you are not trying to find another way ... there is none.
You know the best part? The story is not over ... the One who laid down His life picked it right back up again. A historical resurrection debated for millennia ... because this Truth just can't be made silent. And that life, everlasting life, is the gift of all gifts for those who are part of that exchange in Christ.
One day ... lamenting will simply not be needed. Forever.
Call out to Him ... the name above all names, Jesus Christ.
His,
~Matthew
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