Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.” Return to the LORD your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish. [Joel 2.13]
Like so many places in the Bible, the book of Joel can be difficult to figure out. Matters of timing are probably among the greatest mysteries of all the prophetic writings in the Bible. Joel is no different.
However, as difficult to discern as some of the prophetic writings are, they all reveal absolute truths about God if we will just see them. Again, Joel is no exception, and the verse above is certainly an absolute truth about God.
God, the Father of those who by faith have been adopted into His Family, is merciful and compassionate. He is slow to get angry. He is filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish.
These facts about God are not unique to the writing of Joel. Joel collaborates with the rest of the Bible in describing God in this way. We must see the significance of this Bible-wide collaboration! God is good!
Ignorant people have falsely estimated the character of God all through history. In some circles, these false estimations have even infiltrated the Church. These false estimations undermine faith, because they plant seeds of doubt about the very foundational truth of God's goodness. Oh to be sure, they claim "God is good," but they also claim God Who is good does bad things to good people. This double-minded talk has crippled the faith of the Church. But worse still, it is blasphemous.
Father, I may not always be able to reconcile in my mind why things happen the way they do. But help me always anchor myself to Your unchanging character of goodness and remain faithful to You as You are faithful to me.
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