Outliving a Siege

The last sentence in Joel 2:25 says,  “My great army which I sent among you…”.   That tells us that God sent the army of locusts, the swarm of circumstance.   Did He send them to ultimately rob, kill and destroy His people?  No.  Interestingly, through those times that it feels like we are helpless and chaos is king, our Redeemer is watching and working behind the scenes and at every intersection.   Even during a siege there is a redemptive factor at work and, whether we realize it or not, the conflict is working something out of us and into us.  Overcoming a locust season is an opportunity for sons to build muscle and maturity.  Coming out with both is a redeeming result of difficulty.   Outliving a siege positions us for redemption of our purpose.  Matured and muscled, we are then equipped to embrace every opportunity restored, every resource restored, every potential restored, every strength restored, every harvest restored, every energy restored and the years lost in the difficult, building process. —Kathy Gabler