Joel's Highlighter

Well, really not Joel's highlighter, but more like the parts of Joel that I highlighted as I was reading it the past couple days. And really not highlighted, but circled, or boxed, or underlined, or starred with my favorite Pilot G-2 0.5 pen.

Joel is only three chapters long, it's a short read with mostly reprimands, but some encouraging factors in between. I took the reprimands to heart, and then jotted down the encouragments for later. I use the NIV. Read it as you wish.

In Joel 1, there is a huge punishment coming to the people with whom Joel is speaking (mostly concerning locusts and famine and war). He says, "Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation." How powerful. I think of stories my grandmother has always told me of things that happened in her earlier days. I would sit in awe. Can you imagine listening to stories about giant locusts!? This also seems like our own agenda, to tell our future generations of our own foundational faith stories.

Verses 11 through 14 of chapter two are boxed in on my pages. The main heading is "Rend Your Heart". Take a look at those. The Lord asks, commands, or maybe even begs his children to turn their hearts back to Him with "fasting and weeping". Wow. If only our hearts were so willing to weep at being far from Him. If only our hearts would fall at His feet, feeling ridiculous for ever straying from his mighty characteristics (that are also listed in verse 13).

Yet, through these things, He also says "Be not afraid," both in 2:21 and 2:22. For "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved... there will be deliverance" in 2:32.

The part of this passage that struck my heart with the most pain was a single phrase... "The valley of decision" (mentioned twice in verse 3:14). It gives the feeling of the valley of the shadow of death, but this "valley of decision" is faced far more often than that of death. And some of those decisions take so long to make... months and years of making choices every day that lead to one huge decision, and even longer time is needed to see the rewards of the right ones. Oh, Lord, let us make the right ones!


Praise the name of the Lord your God who has worked wonders for you. -Joel 2:26