When Everything We Trust In Is Gone, Even The Sun
[14] Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. [15] The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. >[16] The LORD roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake. But the LORD is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel.
Joel 3:14–16 ESV Read More
It’s hard to believe, but an eclipse to ancient people was a bigger deal than it is today. Many had no predictions or pre-plans that such an event would happen. Some might have heard stories from the elders about the sun going dark, but would only shudder at the thought of the experience themselves.
If you were in a valley, surrounded by cliffs on all sides, the complete darkness of an eclipse would be hopeless, with no signs of dawn in every direction like you see in Illinois. With limited scientific understanding and time measured out in about 4 big chunks of the day, for the sun to go black would strike at the core of what you measured your life by.
That’s what God is getting at from Joel. The very things that we stake our life on – the things we trust in the most- will go dark at the end of time. On the judgment day, I won’t be able to depend on my incredibly awesome time management or writing skills; the farmer won’t be able to depend on something so dependable as the sun!
Whatever we trust in, if it isn’t the Lord, will be whisked away like the dust that it is, even the sun. But when all falls away, there is the Lord. He is a stronghold to His people and can never be shaken.
This promise is as true as ever. The Lord is close to us in every decision and He’ll be close to us at His last decision. The great thing is that as we seek the Lord, He increases our desires and longing for Him so that we become less and less attached to the dusty things of this world. We can use them for His kingdom, even with great skill and mastery, but the more we cling to the Lord, the less we cling to those things.
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