Throughout the Bible God often uses times of greatest suffering and affliction to lead His children toward repentance. I do not mean that all natural or personal disasters are the direct “punishment” for sin, but the Bible gives numerous examples of God calling His people to repent of sin and turn to Him out of times of intense suffering.

The Old Testament prophet Joel is one such example.

While scholars are unsure about the exact time of Joel’s life and prophecy, we can set the context with some accuracy. The nation of Israel had already been divided into two nations: Israel to the north and Judah to the south. His words of prophecy follow a time of increased physical suffering as the nation lost their harvest to a swarm of locusts. These pests had destroyed everything.

On the heels of this great calamity, God speaks a word of eventual judgment and eternal hope that has been illustrated by this plague.

¹²“Yet even now,” declares the LORD,
“return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
¹³and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
Return to the LORD your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
and he relents over disaster.
¹⁴ Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering
for the LORD your God?

Joel 2:12-14 (ESV)

Immediately following the loss of their crops, what is God’s word for Israel? Return to the loving, gracious God in genuine repentance and hope He relents from destroying you completely.

The reaction feels contrary to our current cultural climate. Suffering generally produces doubt and questions and anger and bitterness and pride. But one of the foremost responses to disaster in the Bible is repentance from sin. It is not merely that all suffering is the direct result of sin. Rather, suffering gets our attention. Suffering often leads to the type of introspection that reveals sin.

In the moments of the most intense physical or emotional pain, turn to the Lord in genuine repentance and receive the grace and mercy only God can offer.