Joel tells us that the Jews had lost time, and that this time lost had run into years. The thought of lost time is a depressing one, and yet we all have to admit that we have lost years from our allotted span through our failure to live for God and obey His voice. When Naomi returned to Bethlehem after ten wasted years in the country of Moab, the full extent of her loss seemed to stare her in the face. She felt that Marah, which means bitter, would be a more appropriate name for her than Naomi, which means pleasant. If you are feeling depressed by thinking about how many years you have lost, God has a cheering thought here to scatter the gloom: I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten.

Maybe you are saying as you read this, Impossible! When time is lost, it cant be recovered; it is water under the bridge, gone forever. That is true, but what God does is to compensate for the time lost through our carelessness and waywardness. When Naomi returned to Bethlehem, she must have been expecting to spend her last days as a poor, broken old woman. But she brought back her daughter-in-law Ruth, a saved young woman. Ruth married Boaz, who was a man of wealth and influence in Bethlehem. When Boaz and Ruths son was born, the women of the district celebrated with Naomi and told her the child would be a restorer of her life and a nourisher of her old age.

When Naomi returned, God compensated her for the years she had lost. He can do the very same for you and me. Hallelujah!