My life as a baseball fan is much more devoted to the major leagues (SF Giants specifically)…. and the minor leagues, not so much.
However, when it comes to my devotional life I prefer the minors to the majors. Of course I’m referring to the Old Testament prophets divided into sections of 5 “major” prophets and 12 “minor” ones. During Momentum Europe’s recent Board meeting I found myself leading some devotional thoughts from the book of Joel, one of the shorter “minor” prophets.
Joel is first of all a story about locusts of all kinds (swarms of locusts, young locusts, old locusts and plain old “other” locusts). The applications are many. There’s the locusts that have eaten away at the Christian heritage of Europe. There’s the locusts that have from time to time eroded the impact of this ministry. And of course there’s the personal locusts of life where I need to regularly repent and claim God’s grace and forgiveness.
But beyond the locust story, this minor prophet also majors in the story of those who care about the Lord. Those who suffer in the midst of a fallen world but yet continue to intercede on behalf of the world around them. This is the context of the famous passage from Joel 2:28, 29:
“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women I will pour out my Spirit in these days.”
It’s important to note that the “afterward” in the above passage takes into account what God has already done in replenishing the storehouses and refreshing the pastures of His people.
The recently completed Momentum Europe Partners retreat was a time of replenishing and refreshing. Approximately 35 ME Partners, Friends and Staff met over 3 days to encourage one another and to be refreshed in our vision for reaching Europeans. We came away seeing that our storehouses had been restocked and our fields of ministry were sprouting new growth.
So now from the above passage, we can anticipate the wonderful touch of God’s Spirit. Our dreams for this ministry will be bigger. Our vision will be clearer. And the anticipation of His Spirit to work among us already is stronger than ever.
Thus, a “minor” prophet brings us major encouragement. Whether the locusts have taken their toll on Europe generally or in Momentum Europe corporately or within our lives individually, God stands ready to replenish and refresh and empower anew. That will lead us to greater impact. Awesome!
I’m excited about the major things God yet plans to do in Europe. Are you?