{"id":1135,"date":"2018-12-30T00:55:44","date_gmt":"2018-12-30T07:55:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=1135"},"modified":"2019-01-02T23:50:07","modified_gmt":"2019-01-03T06:50:07","slug":"when-things-go-from-bad-to-worse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/when-things-go-from-bad-to-worse\/","title":{"rendered":"When Things Go From Bad to Worse"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today we begin the book of Joel.\u00a0 Not much is known about Joel.\u00a0 We do know that he was a prophet living in Jerusalem and his name means “Jehovah is his God”.\u00a0 His dad’s name was Pethuel (meaning “Vision of God”).\u00a0 Many scholars believe Joel was probably written soon after the Israelites returned from exile in Babylon in 538 B.C., but there are numerous other theories as well.\u00a0 That said, Joel is a powerful book with some important lessons for us today.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

On verses 1-12: \u00a0Here in very poetic language Joel talks about a locust plague that has ravaged his land (v4).\u00a0 The plague has left his people with little or no crops and vegetation. Fields are ruined (v10) and grain is destroyed (v10). \u00a0 Vegetation in Israel has dried up (v12) and along with it the joy of the nation (v12).\u00a0 It is a time of mourning for all people in Israel (v8), from drunkards (v5) to priests (v9) to farmers (v11).<\/p>\n

Later on in the book of Joel, God will promise to repay the Israelites for the years that the locusts have eaten (2:25<\/span><\/span>).\u00a0 He will promise to restore provision and joy to the people once again (2:22-24).\u00a0 But in the meantime, here in chapter 1 Joel leads the people in weeping, grieving and mourning their loss.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0 Two lessons:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 When you encounter an especially painful, hurtful time, it’s okay to grieve. \u00a0<\/strong>As Ecclesiastes 4:4 says, there is “a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance”.\u00a0 Give yourself the time you need to grieve when you go through tremendous loss.\u00a0 When you grieve in God’s presence, you give God an opportunity to work in your life.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 Sometimes things need to get bad and then worse before things can get better and we can see God’s glory.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0That’s what happened in the book of Joel, and that’s what often happens in our lives as well.\u00a0 While none of us likes going through tough or uncertain times, it is also in our tough and uncertain times that God works His greatest miracles.<\/p>\n

So if you’re going through a difficult season, don’t despair.\u00a0 Don’t think that God is not there or He doesn’t care.\u00a0 God is not finished with your story.\u00a0 He is writing a story that is greater than anything you could write for yourself.\u00a0 But just like any great story, heartbreak, grief, disappointment, defeat, loss and failure often come before the hope, the lesson and the final victory. \u00a0So when things go from bad to worse, remember: God is not finished writing your story.\u00a0 The best is still to come.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Heavenly Father<\/span><\/strong>, thank You that You are not finished writing my story.\u00a0 Thank You in all things You work for the good of those who love You. \u00a0 Thank You that every hurt, every pain, every loss and defeat are things You will use to ultimately display Your glory through my life.\u00a0 Thank You that because of Jesus and the hope we have in Him, the best is always yet to come.\u00a0 In Jesus’ name, AMEN!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today we begin the book of Joel.\u00a0 Not much is known about Joel.\u00a0 We do know that he was a prophet living in Jerusalem and his name means “Jehovah is his God”.\u00a0 His dad’s name was Pethuel (meaning “Vision of God”).\u00a0 Many scholars believe Joel was probably written soon after the Israelites returned from exile in Babylon in 538 B.C., but there are numerous other theories as well.\u00a0 That said, Joel is a powerful book with some important lessons for us today.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1246,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1135"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1135\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1289,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1135\/revisions\/1289"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}