Better Days Are Ahead

Devotional Reading: Joel 2 (NIV)

Scripture Focus: Joel 2: 23-27 (NIV)

"23 Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. 24 The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. 25 “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. 26 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. 27 Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the Lord your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed."

Over the past few years, months, weeks, and days, you may have experienced loss. When loss comes, it can make you feel hopeless. Some of you may have even come to a place where you wanted to give up and throw in the towel. These feelings are normal, especially when the loss has brought such devastation to your life. But, the phrase, "better days ahead" kept replaying in my mind and resonated in my spirit on today. And thinking on this caused me to reflect on the grieving process I have personally gone through because of the losses I have experienced. Not only did it cause me to think about the grief and loss, but it caused me to think about the restoration that is promised to me in hopeful anticipation of a much better future. In this passage, God is sending a message to the people of Zion through the prophet Joel, to let them know it won't always be like this. This message is such an in-season word to us today because it won't always be like this. You won't always be broken, you won't always feel defeated, you won't have to cry yourself to sleep every night. There is restoration on the other side of what you are currently going through. That is such good news to me in a season where loss is all around, yet, we have an assurance that it won't always be like this because better days are ahead of us!

Closing Prayer: Dear God, thank you for restoration. I have no reason to be dismayed, discouraged or defeated. My soul will cease from being disquieted because I know you will take care of me. I trust you to bring a turnaround in my life and I declare, "better days are ahead!"

Daily Reflection: How do you envision your better days? Write down a list of three things that would serve as an indication that you have entered your season of "better days."