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The Restoration of the Locust Years


There’s a promise tucked inside Joel 2:25 that has been stirring in my heart lately:

"I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you."

At first glance, it's just a list of plagues: locusts, cankerworms, caterpillars, palmerworms. But look deeper, and you'll see more than just insects. You'll see your own life. Your own story.

  • The Locusts: sudden, sweeping losses that strip life bare in an instant.

  • The Cankerworm: slow erosion, the kind you don't notice until the foundation crumbles.

  • The Caterpillar: stolen potential, transformation interrupted before it could bloom.

  • The Palmerworm: small compromises and small heartbreaks that nibble away over time.

Not every loss comes the same way, but every loss leaves its mark. Some of us know what it's like to have dreams devoured. Some know the hollow ache of seasons wasted, stolen by circumstances or mistakes. And yet, the heart of God breaks through the wreckage with a different word: Restore.

The Hebrew word used here for "restore" is shalam — not just to give back, but to make whole. To complete. To bring peace. It's the root of shalom — fullness, healing, nothing missing, nothing broken.

When God says He will restore the years, He's not just offering a refund. He's offering to write a new story where even the ruins are woven into beauty.

As I sat with this promise, I saw another echo rising — Isaiah 61, the very passage Jesus unrolled at the start of His ministry:

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to bring good news to the poor; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound..."

Here, the broken are not divided into neat categories.

  • The Poor: those who know lack in every form — material, emotional, spiritual.

  • The Brokenhearted: those carrying disappointments too deep for words.

  • The Captives: those trapped by things they never chose.

  • The Prisoners: those who made a wrong turn and chained themselves.

In a way, we are all of these.

We're all a heartbreak away from brokenhearted. One bad response away from prisoner. We’re all subject to circumstances that can hold us captive. And truth be told, we're all a little poorer than we like to admit — poorer in hope, poorer in strength, poorer in peace.

And yet, into all of this, the voice of God thunders with tenderness:

"I am the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness." (Exodus 34:6)

This is the God who promises not just to forgive, but to restore. Not just to rescue, but to rebuild. Not just to patch up the past, but to pour out new life where ruin once reigned.

If you’re reading this and you feel the ache of lost years, hear this: You are not forgotten. Your story is not over. And no locust, no worm, no wasted season is beyond His power to redeem.

The years may have been stolen, but the harvest still belongs to God.

The Spirit of the Lord is moving. Restoration is not just possible; it's already in motion.

Let the ruins live again. Let the captives hear the keys turning. Let the prisoners see the gates swing wide. Let the brokenhearted feel the binding of a gentle hand.

This is the year of the Lord's favor. This is the restoration of the locust years. And it’s only the beginning.

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