Daily Devotional for Wednesday, May 21

The Supplication

“O Lord, to thee will I cry,” Joel 1:19.

America is no stranger to catastrophic events. Hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, wildfires, tornadoes, snowstorms, and droughts continue to have devastating effects on our land. These disasters are the effects of the curse of sin on the earth. The human and economic costs continue to devastate families across our nation. We often wonder where God is in these uncertain times. The truth is that God often uses these types of events to get our attention and bring us back to Him. 

            Judah was certainly no stranger to catastrophe either. When Joel spoke God’s Word to the Southern Kingdom, the conditions were dire. The plague of locusts had devoured their crops, and now they were experiencing a terrible drought. The effects on the land, the people and their animals were disastrous. God was warning Judah of the impending judgment the nation would suffer at the hands of heathens unless they repented. Joel called on the people to cry out and ask God to forgive their sins and heal their land. Joel’s prophecy also pictures God’s judgment of Israel during the Tribulation. 

God often uses pestilence, famine, violent weather, invading armies, and celestial phenomena to get the attention of individuals and nations. As the day of Christ’s return approaches, these types of events will increase. Men can either cry out to God in humble repentance or blame God in anger. Personal or national crisis should lead us as God’s children straight to our knees. God wants to hear our specific requests for our deepest needs. He will answer our humble, heartfelt pleas during times of personal or national catastrophe. He promised, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). 

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

Today, more than ever, we must continue to pray specifically and earnestly for the repentance of our nation and the nation of Israel.

Karen Meigs