November 8th - Reflection

Joel 1:1-14 (NRSV)
Call to repentance

The word of the Lord that came to Joel son of Pethuel:


Hear this, O elders,
give ear, all inhabitants of the land!
Has such a thing happened in your days,
or in the days of your ancestors?
Tell your children of it,
and let your children tell their children,
and their children another generation.

What the cutting locust left,
the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
the hopping locust has eaten,
and what the hopping locust left,
the destroying locust has eaten.

Wake up, you drunkards, and weep;
and wail, all you wine-drinkers,
over the sweet wine,
for it is cut off from your mouth.
For a nation has invaded my land,
powerful and innumerable;
its teeth are lions' teeth,
and it has the fangs of a lioness.
It has laid waste my vines,
and splintered my fig trees;
it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down;
their branches have turned white.

Lament like a virgin dressed in sackcloth
for the husband of her youth.
The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off
from the house of the Lord.
The priests mourn,
the ministers of the Lord.
The fields are devastated,
the ground mourns;
for the grain is destroyed,
the wine dries up,
the oil fails.

Be dismayed, you farmers,
wail, you vinedressers,
over the wheat and the barley;
for the crops of the field are ruined.
The vine withers,
the fig tree droops.
Pomegranate, palm, and apple --
all the trees of the field are dried up;
surely, joy withers away
among the people.


Put on sackcloth and lament, you priests;
wail, you ministers of the altar.
Come, pass the night in sackcloth,
you ministers of my God!
Grain offering and drink offering
are withheld from the house of your God.

Sanctify a fast,
call a solemn assembly.
Gather the elders
and all the inhabitants of the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.

Reflection
Listen to the Word of God. Don't just lay around in sin and have a pity party for yourself. Listen to the Word when you have been stripped bare and are open for all to see. Stop, pause and listen.

Then do something. cry out to God for the help that you need. Get together and come to God with others. Sanctify a fast and cry out to God for help.

Sometimes we have to realize the situation we are in and seek the help that we need. First turn to God for help then use those God has given you, family, friends, church. Listen for the Word spoken from God in the Bible and through the sacraments and through those gifted with the Word. Seek the Lord for Jesus alone is your salvation. Then follow the lead of the Holy Spirit as the Spirit guides you to those with godly gifts that will help in time of need. Listen to the Word of God.

Prayer
Lord, when the locusts come, show me what to do and where to go. Lead me back to you on the path you would have me take ... today... tomorrow... and forever. --- Amen