The Wasted Years Can Be Restored by a Miracle of Love
I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the great locust, the grasshopper, and the caterpillar, my great army, which I sent among you. — Joel 2:25
I also tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. — Matthew 16:18
Author
Charles Spurgeon
Summary: God can restore the wasted years through abundant grace that enables us to serve him with renewed zeal. By leaving behind rebellion, worldliness, and lukewarmness, we can bear fruit where there was once barrenness. Our bitter experience can also help us warn others and deepen our humility, childlike dependence, and repentance. If we live more watchfully, zealously, and tenderly, our losses can become opportunities for growth and service, as happened with Peter after he recognized his weakness. Let us believe in this restoration, live for it, and ask the Lord for his help.
Yes, those wasted years over which we sigh will be restored to us. God can give us grace so abundant that, in the days we have left, we will be able to render enough service to make up for all those years of ungodliness over which we groan in humble repentance.
The caterpillars of rebellion, worldliness, and lukewarmness now appear to us as a terrible plague. Oh, that they had never come near us! The Lord, in His mercy, has removed them from us, and we are full of zeal to serve Him. Blessed be His name, for we will be able to bring in such harvests of spiritual graces that our former barrenness will disappear. Through abundant grace, we will be able to profit from our bitter experience and use it to warn others. Because of our former shortcomings, we may become more deeply rooted in humility, childlike dependence, and a repentant spirit. If we become more watchful, zealous, and tender, we will gain through our grievous losses. The wasted years can be restored by a miracle of love. Does this seem too great a blessing to you? Let us believe in it and live for it, and we may yet see it come to pass, just as Peter became a far more useful man after his self-confidence was cured by his evident weakness. Lord, help us by Your grace.
Source: The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith. Translation by Allan Roman.
http://www.spurgeon.com.mx/chequera/meditames/mayo.pdf