The book of Joel is all about learning the lessons of disaster.
There are only three chapters in the entire book and the first one and a half chapters deal with the disasters of life.
The prophet Joel is facing three terrible disasters coming like waves one after the other.
First came terrible plagues of locusts, followed by drought and then famine.
Mixed in with terrifying descriptions of these disasters which came to people so long ago there is a wealth of insight into our attitude to disasters.
Remember, it’s not what happens to you that makes you what you are; it’s the way you respond to it that matters.
The first half of the book of Joel is about our insecurity on this planet and our attitude when disaster strikes.
The second half of the book of Joel, that is the last one and a half chapters, is all about how God delivers those who turn to Him in trust. In it you will find not only a divine process for people faced with disaster but a divine promise about the way God gives His spirit to annihilate spiritual dryness.
It’s packed with deep teaching and the key to the book of Joel is not just trying to make sense of the disasters that hit us but it is how those disasters can be turned into deliverances.
