God protects his people

Israel's future

In that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine. Joel 3:18 NLT

Live in God's Blessing

After all is said and done, what does it look like when God's restoration is complete? How does the blessing of God's redemption manifest itself when he's finished reinstating his people?

When we move away from God and disobey his commands, he brings us under his hand of discipline. His purpose is to keep us from harm and to bring us back into communion with him. He restores our blessings, even greater than before.

The prophet Joel described it like this: "In that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk. Water will fill the dry streambeds of Judah, and a fountain will burst forth from the Lord's Temple, watering the arid valley of acacias.…Judah will remain forever, and Jerusalem will endure through all future generations." (Joel 3:18-21).

Simply put, it looks like heaven on earth: God's people living in the light of God's blessing, moving in his will, bathing in his mercy, feeling his presence, singing his praises, experiencing his glorious love. When we live the way God wants us to live, he brings blessings too great to describe. He shelters and defends us. He provides for our every need. He hears our prayers and answers them. He resides among us.

It's hard for so many of us to imagine that because we live so much of our life in rebellion. God doesn't want us to spend our life under his hand of discipline — he has much greater plans. If only we could learn to rest in his love and give ourselves over to his perfect will. That's when we would know firsthand that God's provision and goodness are far beyond anything we could expect or imagine.

Adapted from Embracing Eternity by Tim LaHaye, Jerry Jenkins and Frank M. Martin, Tyndale House Publishers (2004), entry for March 1