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God Can RestoreJoel 1:4 “That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.”Joel 2:25 “And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.”God promised His people through the prophet Joel that He would judge them. The judgement of pestilence would leave the land barren. God would use it all to bring His people back to Him. God’s goal in chastening those He loves is not to inflict pain and suffering but to draw them unto Himself. Please understand this Bible truth; God is always drawing us unto Himself. He is always seeking to lead us into a deeper and more fuller time of fellowship with Him. Even in His judgements and chastisements He is seeking to draw us unto Himself. “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth…” - Hebrew 12:6. For Israel, God not only promised to destroy their land through sending locusts but He promised one day to restore unto them the years which the locust had eaten. Note the fullness of God’s promise of restoration. He promised not just what the locust had eaten, but “the years that the locust had eaten”. When those insects descended upon the land, in the end it would be utterly barren and would take years to recover. God would restore all the years they had lost. What a gracious God we serve!! This is the same God we serve today! Yes He chastens His children but He also longs to restore unto us the years that we allowed sin to destroy.