Pray the Word with David Platt is a resource from radical.net.

Joel, chapter 2, verse 25.

I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten.

What a promise from God.

And what imagery, years that the swarming locust has eaten all this time that

seems like it has disaster and suffering and death written all over it. God says that's not the

end of the story. I'm going to bring about restoration

and redemption in a way that's far beyond what you could imagine. This is at the heart of the gospel

that we believe that darkness and suffering are not the end of the story for all who trust in Jesus,

that death is not the end of the story for all who trust in Jesus, that we worship,

and we have put our hope and our trust in the God who alone is able to restore and to redeem,

to heal, and to make whole, that which is broken and lost

and seems ruined. And I just want to encourage you today, as you look at your past, to know

that God is the Redeemer. He's the one who redeems and restores years that the swarming

locusts may have eaten. And in your present, through any challenges you may be walking through

right now, what hope you and I can have that God is going to restore and God is going to redeem hurt and pain

and brokenness for all who trust in him and for others that were walking alongside who are going

through hard days.

I just think about one person.

I was talking with recently who's been through hard years, and they just flat out said,

I love a good redemption story, and I long for a good redemption story.

And the reality is for all who trust in Jesus, all of our stories are a good redemption story. the end will be a good restoration redemption story not just good

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