In our last visit we discovered that genuine repentance is a matter of the heart, not merely going through perfunctory religious ceremonies. Joel declared, “Return to the Lord with all your heart…rend your heart!” But he also said, “Return to me with…fasting and weeping.”
As we seek God by fasting and praying we need to take care not to be satisfied with just going through the motions. The psalmist cried out, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24).
That’s why Joel tells us to rend our hearts. Let God’s searchlight penetrate to your inmost being, your secret closet. Don’t try hiding anything from Him. He knows what’s there, but He wants you to open the door and invite Him into your whole being. When you do you will find God is “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity” (Joel 2:13).
Joel had told them that devastating times were on the horizon. “The day of the Lord is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it?” (Joel 2:11). Now he says, if you genuinely seek God with all your heart, “Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing” (Joel 2:14).
God had done this many times in the past. One of the most dramatic examples is when Jonah was sent to proclaim God’s judgment on Nineveh. They repented, and when they did, God relented from sending the promised calamity. Joel said, “Who knows, He might do this for you.”
