“I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten.” Joel 2:25
What do “lost years” look like for you? How can God restore the years that the locusts have eaten in your life? Lost years (or locust years) are years that you can’t get back, and they come in many varieties.
1. Fruitless years
A lot of hard work was done in the years the locusts had eaten. Seed was sown, crops were planted, and fields were cultivated—day after day of hard labor. And out of all that came green shoots, healthy plants, and the promise of a great harvest. Then the locusts came and everything was gone.
Maybe you know what that is like—a failed venture, a bad investment, a misguided policy, and all the effort that you put in day-by-day, month-by-month, and year-by-year led to massive disappointment. What has come of all your time and effort?
2. Painful years
Maybe you have lost a loved one. You had plans for the future. You had it all mapped out in your mind, but then a loved one was taken from you. You hoped that these years would be full, but now you fear that they may be empty.
Maybe you have been living with illness in the body or the mind. You assumed that you would always be able to do what you used to do, but then you became sick. Your condition has changed everything, and now you have to find a way of living with that.
Have you been struggling with fruitless or painful years? What happened?
