“I Will Restore the Years”
A Reflection on Joel 2:25
There are verses in Scripture that feel like a gentle hand on the shoulder—quiet, steady, and deeply personal. Joel 2:25 is one of them:
“I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten…”
This is not the language of a distant God. This is the voice of a Father speaking to wounded sons and daughters.
Joel was addressing a people who had seen everything collapse. The locust plague was not just an agricultural disaster—it was economic ruin, emotional exhaustion, and spiritual confusion rolled into one. Crops gone. Livelihoods erased. Hopes postponed indefinitely. They didn’t just lose harvests; they lost years.
And God does not minimize that loss. He names it.
Notice this: God doesn’t say, “I will restore what you lost.”
He says, “I will restore the years.”
Years are time. Years are memories. Years are moments we can’t rewind.
Many of us know what those “locust years” feel like.
Years lost to wrong decisions.
Years swallowed by sickness, depression, or grief.
Years delayed by poverty, betrayal, or burnout.
Years where faith felt dry and prayers felt unanswered.
Some losses came from our own choices. Others came through circumstances we never invited. Yet God, in His mercy, does not ask us first why we lost those years. He simply promises: I will restore.
This restoration is not always about getting back the exact things we lost. God works deeper than that. He restores meaning, purpose, and fruitfulness to what once felt wasted.
He gives wisdom where there was regret.
He gives compassion where there was pain.
He gives authority where there was shame.
What the enemy meant to reduce you, God redeems to refine you.
Restoration in God’s economy is not cosmetic—it is transformational. He does not merely repair the past; He reclaims it. The years that seemed empty become the very soil where maturity grows. The tears become testimonies. The delay becomes preparation.
And here is the quiet miracle: when God restores, He does not rush you. He does not shame you for being behind. Heaven does not run on your old timeline. Grace creates a new one.
Joel 2:25 is not a promise only for nations—it is a word for the tired soul, the discouraged minister, the parent who feels they failed, the believer who wonders if it’s too late.
It is not too late.
God specializes in late starts and unlikely turnarounds. He restores not because we deserve it, but because He is faithful to His covenant of love.
So if today you feel like time has betrayed you, hear the heart of God clearly:
“I see the years. I remember the losses. And I am not finished with your story.”
Restoration is not behind you.
It is unfolding—quietly, faithfully, and right on time.
BE BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE!
—
Chris N. Braza
Soul Care Ministry Philippines
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