"The Lord will restore to you the years that the locusts hath eaten..."

“I will restore to you the years that the locusts hath eaten” --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tucked away in the book of Joel in the Bible is this little sentence: “And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten”. At first glance, this doesn’t make sense....the years being eaten by locusts? But in its spiritual significance, these words speak of the restoration of everything that might seem to have been lost....lost opportunities, thwarted hopes and dreams, cherished plans that have been derailed through no fault of our own.

We have now been in lockdown in one way or another for a year, and it has been a challenging time for so many people. Being confined to our homes, so much seems to have been eaten away...time with our family and loved ones, lost career opportunities, birthday and anniversary celebrations curtailed, loss of social contact, diminishing income and supply, and so on.

But those words from Joel reassure us that God restores that which seems to have been eaten away, or lost. There can be no lost years in Mind, and no lost opportunities for good of any kind.

When our elder son was very young, he was poorly off and on, which resulted in him missing weeks of school over a long period of time. He had to spend much of his time at home, and it was difficult for him to catch up with his schoolwork. He had the loving support of a Christian Science practitioner at different times, but it was hard not to feel that our son was losing out on so many levels, not least academically and socially.

During this challenging time, I just clung to that verse from Joel: “And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten”. The “locust” certainly appeared to be devouring our son’s education and schooling, but I knew in my heart that good can never be lost.

Mrs. Eddy, the discoverer and founder of Christian Science,  states that “man is a compound idea of God, including all right ideas”....and that includes the idea of education.

And so it proved. In spite of missing many months of schooling, our son eventually made a good recovery, and he completed his education at Claremont Fan Court school, graduating with top marks in his “A” level examinations. He went on to attend one of the finest Universities in the land, gaining a degree in Computer Science, which laid the foundation for a rewarding career in computer programming...he is presently the Team Leader in the software department of the company where he works.

In the words of a much-loved hymn, “He restores the lost, and heals the spirit broken”.

 

Photo by CDC on Unsplash.

 

 


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