Restored Years

by H. Darke, Vancouver, B.C. | Category: General | Oct 1962

I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten.

(Joel 2.25).

Only small in size, but what havoc is wrought by the locust! Only a couple of inches long, but what desolation it leaves in its train! When the locust sets out on its mission its determined purpose is to devour every green blade in its way, and this is accomplished by the steady nibble, nibble, nibble until all grass and plants are eaten. In the prophecy of Joel we construe that God's ancient people must have suffered drastically from the swarms of locusts. Fruit orchards would be stripped, pastureland and grain fields ravaged, and the ultimate result would be famine. Then we see the kindness and mercy of God towards the children of Zion in the divine promise,

"I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten ... and ye shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and shall praise the Name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you." Our God is a great Restorer! He is the Restorer of the soul (Psalm 23); He is the Restorer of the joy of salvation (Psalm 51); and He is the Restorer of the years that the locusts have eaten (Joel 2). Do we need restoring as God's people today, individually, collectively? What of those days, and months, and years of our spiritual lives which have been nibbled away until the green leaf of our Christian experience has been almost destroyed? An accumulation of small things which are not of God can quickly turn an otherwise fresh, wholesome spiritual life into barren desolation. Is the Lord getting from us what He deserves, and what belongs to Him? Are we able to give Him the invitation of the Bride to her Beloved in the Song of Songs? She said,

"Let my Beloved come into His garden,

And eat His precious fruits" (4.16).

Or are our lives like some "barren waste with thorns o'ergrown," nothing much left for Him but parched land? It is sometimes hard to realize that such a thing can happen to the child of God. The truth of this was once portrayed in a poem the theme of which was, "Amid an upturned field a rusty plough." Described vividly in verse was the scene of the once prosperous farm, now in a state of obvious neglect, the farmhouse in disrepair, once fruitful fields now overgrown with weeds, and amidst the ruins and neglect a rusty plough in a partly upturned field. What of the owner? What of his heritage, his precious possessions, the fruits of his toil once earned by the sweat of his brow? Nothing to show but barren desolation, and the mute testimony of a rusty plough! How solemn are the Master's words in the light of this! "No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God" (Luke 9.62).

How needful is the work of restoration in these lives of ours to rectify those things which we have neglected! Our prayer life, our assembly life, our study of the word, our testimony to the world by deed and word, our care of our Sunday school class, seeking our neighbour's good by visitation, in conversation on bus and train, by mailing or door-to-door distribution of gospel and believers' booklets, visitation to the hospitals, words of comfort to the bereaved - these are only a beginning, but they can be the beginning of a great recovery from barrenness to fruitfulness. The ensuing joy will be like that of Mephibosheth when he was brought up from Lo-debar ("the place of no pasture"). Crippled, neglected, unworthy, yet there was shown unto him by David the kindness of God, and he was restored to the place of a prince at the king's table. His joy knew no bounds as he looked into the king's face amidst the beautiful surroundings of the palace, and as he remembered the parched wasteland of Lo-debar. May we heed the spiritual lesson in this particular incident!

Some years ago a young Christian woman lay on her deathbed in a sanatorium. She had been saved as a young girl, but growing cold in heart she drifted away from the Saviour's love. Entering womanhood, she contracted tuberculosis, and as she lay dying in hospital she sent for the man who led her to Christ. At the bedside he endeavoured to comfort her by re-telling the story of her salvation, but as he was leaving her she cried to him, "Oh those wasted years!" Thus she died, sad to say, but these words might apply to some of us, today, to us who are blessed with health and strength, and are letting the days slip by and rendering so little service to the One who has done so much for us. May the dying embers of love to our Lord Jesus be rekindled in our souls, the joy of salvation revived, and the year that the locusts have eaten restored!

H. Darke, Vancouver, B.C. | Oct 1962
General