Series: Beauty for Ashes
Preacher: Bishop Joab Othatcher
Main Scripture: Joel 2:25-26
Supporting Scriptures: Isaiah 61:1-4, 1 Peter 5:10
(Opening)
Good morning, City of Hope! I want to speak to someone today who feels like they’ve lost something precious. Maybe you’ve lost time to a bad decision. Maybe you’ve lost a relationship to conflict. Maybe you’ve lost your joy to hardship, or your peace to anxiety. You look at the ruins of what was or what could have been, and you feel a deep sense of loss. The enemy wants you to believe that what is broken will always be broken. But I’m here to declare the word of the Lord over your life: God is a God of restoration! He specializes in rebuilding broken lives. If you feel like you’re in a season of loss, your title today is “From Ruins to Restoration.” Let’s turn to the book of Joel, chapter 2.
(Scripture Reading)
“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten— the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm— my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed.”
- Joel 2:25-26 (NIV)
(Point 1: Acknowledging the Locusts)
To understand the power of this promise, we must understand the locust. A locust swarm is a force of total devastation. It doesn’t just nibble on a few leaves; it strips the land bare, destroying every green thing, leaving behind a barren wasteland. The “locusts” in our lives are the things that devour our time, our peace, our health, and our potential. It could be a season of addiction, a period of rebellion, a financial disaster, or a prolonged illness. The first step to restoration is to honestly acknowledge the devastation. You can’t get back what you don’t admit you’ve lost. God is not asking you to pretend it didn’t happen. He’s inviting you to bring your ruins to Him.
(Point 2: The Promise of Repayment)
Now, hear the radical nature of God’s promise: “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten.” This is not just a promise of future blessing; it is a promise of restitution. The Hebrew word for “repay” means to restore, to make complete, to return its full equivalent. God isn’t just going to give you something new; He can actually redeem the time that was lost. He can restore joy after mourning. He can bring purpose out of your pain. He can use the very thing the enemy meant to destroy you to become your testimony. This repayment is not something we can earn; it is a work of grace. It is God Himself, the one who allowed the locusts for a season, who now drives them out and restores what was lost.
(Point 3: The Purpose of Restoration)
Why does God do this? Look at verse 26: “…and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed.” The ultimate purpose of your restoration is His glory. God restores you so that your life becomes a monument to His goodness and power. When people see your healed marriage, your renewed mind, your financial turnaround, they won’t say, “Wow, you’re so resilient!” They will say, “Only God could have done that!” Your story of restoration silences the voice of shame and becomes a song of praise. You are not just restored from something; you are restored for something—to declare the wonders of God.
(Conclusion and Altar Call)
Maybe you’re here today and you’ve been looking at the locust-eaten years of your life. You see the barren field and you think it’s hopeless. But God sees a harvest. He is saying to you today, “I am not done with you. The best is yet to come. I will restore what was stolen.”
I feel in my spirit that someone needs to let go of the shame and the regret of those lost years right now. Stop counting the damage and start trusting the Restorer.
As we respond in worship, I want to invite you to come forward. Come and receive a fresh declaration of God’s restoration over your life. Come and exchange your story of ruin for His promise of restoration. Come, and let God begin a new work in you today.
Let us pray:
“Father God, we bring you our locust-eaten years. We bring you the broken places, the wasted time, the seasons of loss and shame. We thank you that you are a God who repays, who restores, and who redeems. We claim the promise of Joel 2:25 over our lives today. We receive your restoration by faith. We declare that our season of shame is over and our season of praise has begun. In the mighty name of Jesus, Amen.”
