These are the years the locusts have eaten

The book of Joel, one of the lesser known “Minor Prophets” of the Bible, describes a devastating period in Jewish history. In one brutal wave after another, four different species of locusts have ravaged Jerusalem (Joel 1:4-12). These invaders from the north have left grain fields and fruit orchards decimated in their wake, transforming a fertile valley once bursting with vibrant plant life into an arid wasteland (Joel 1:20, 2:3).

As Americans living in 2025, it may be easy to dismiss Joel's account of a locust invasion as a strange, allegorical event in ancient history. However, even in contemporary times, locusts have levied catastrophic impacts in East Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and India. In 2019, locust swarms covering 1,491 square kilometers and containing up to 192 billion insects destroyed parts of Kenya, consuming in one day the equivalent food supply for 90 million people. (1)

If modern technology is ineffectual to mitigate against locust outbreaks today, we can only imagine the existential threat these pernicious insects posed to ancient Israel. The annihilation of natural resources certainly caused widespread starvation, poverty, and disease. The psychological impacts of such an outbreak must have been profound as well. Joel describes the collective grief of his community poignantly: “Gladness has dried up from the children of man” (Joel 1:12) and “joy has been cut off from the house of God” (Joel 1:16).

Importantly, Joel understands that the locusts gobbled up more than green matter. These invaders ate years—that is, they divested precious time from God's people. We can assume it took years for the Israelites to plant trees, cultivate crops, and rebuild their community. Joel also records that they spent time grieving the past (Joel 1:8-9), weeping (Joel 1:5), lamenting (Joel 1:8, 13), crying out to God (Joel 1:14), distancing themselves from God (Joel 2:12), wrestling with fear (Joel 2:21-22), and even drinking away their sorrows (Joel 1:5). Indeed, the accumulated time given to despair and anxiety is perhaps the greatest casualty of suffering. What a tragedy it is to expend countless hours, eventually stretching into years, consumed by our losses.

The prophet reminds us that in the midst of our deepest, prolonged suffering, God sees us—and He cares for us. When God regards the shame, fear, and mourning of the Israelites, He is filled with compassion (Joel 2:18). He recognizes that they have lost significant time to suffering, and He promises to restore the "years the locusts have eaten" (Joel 2:25).

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These are my locust years. In one wave after another, locusts ate away at my oldest son Sam, and I write with tears in the darkness that remains.

Before the locusts came, Sam was a kind and happy teenager. He loved his family and was a caring brother to his younger siblings. As a child, he was exceptionally bright, mastering long division by kindergarten and ranking among the top scholastic chess players in the country. It took little effort for Sam to make straight As, but he was also humble and unassuming about his accomplishments.

Sam accepted Jesus in elementary school and grew in faith throughout middle and high school. He was engaged in our church youth group and enjoyed serving on the worship team. At home, he spent time reading his Bible and journaling about what God was teaching him.

The first wave of locusts came during Sam's junior year of high school, at the start of the Covid pandemic. During the lockdown, two of his friends committed suicide, seemingly without any warning signs, within six months of each other. Reeling with pain, Sam took the reactions of students and teachers in his small Christian private school especially hard. He perceived them to be insincere and superficial in their grief while outwardly professing Christian piety, and that dissonance fueled a growing distrust and resentment toward his peers.

The isolation at home, coupled with unresolved grief, exacerbated Sam’s nascent feelings of loneliness, and he began to withdraw from friends and family. His grades and health declined, and he became uncharacteristically irritable and angry.

While still grieving the teens that took their own lives, our family faced another jarring loss during Sam's senior year. The father of one of Sam's best friends—a man that Sam had always admired as a Christian role model—lost his job due to suspicions of embezzlement and fraud. The shocking allegations were never confirmed or rebutted, however, because he died suddenly of a heart attack.

These waves of tragedy and disillusionment—our proverbial locust swarms—left Sam emotionally paralyzed. He withdrew further from our family and his friends at school and church. By the time he graduated from high school, Sam was exhibiting signs of depression and other forms of mental illness, but he refused any help. Whenever I suggested that he talk to a friend or counselor, or take a gap year, he became sullen or catatonic.

For the first time, Sam failed a class during his freshman year of college. His grades continued to decline until he stopped attending classes altogether. After he failed to come home for Thanksgiving break in his sophomore year, ignoring contact from anyone, we traveled to his campus to bring him home. By then, Sam had been alone for months, disheveled and emaciated, living in spiritual and literal darkness.

Sam has been home for over a year and has made some progress, albeit very slowly. He is "home" only in the geographic sense, however, and we continue to pray that he will return to God and to our family.

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The book of Joel does not conclude with Jerusalem restored and its inhabitants living in abundance again. Rather, the last chapter ends with the Israelites still living in a dark valley where there is no light from the sun, moon, and stars (Joel 3:14-15). The locusts have eaten until there is nothing left, and God’s people are wandering in the desert. It seems the Israelites have languished for years in their suffering, just as I have, still waiting for God to act.

Curiously, Joel concludes with a call to action for those living in desperate times:

“Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw from their shining.... But the Lord is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel.” (‭‭Joel‬ ‭3‬:‭14‬-‭16‬) 

Like the Israelites muddling about in the darkness, we too must decide what to do in the midst of suffering. Do we choose to put our hope in God as our refuge and stronghold, or do we give in to despair? Do we offer our broken hearts without reservation, trusting the Lord with our deepest sorrows, or do we distance ourselves from Him, allowing suffering to harden our wounded hearts?

The decision to follow God during hard times must be made intentionally, proactively, and resolutely. Without a decisive act of the will, we are prone to stumble in the darkness when faced with prolonged adversity. 

We can only trust God if we know Him to be trustworthy. We can only surrender our fear and anxiety to Him if we know He has power to save us and our loved ones. We can only offer our sorrows to Him if we know He is compassionate. In other words, we decide to follow Him only if we know who He is. Thus, Joel reminds the Israelites that the Lord is gracious and merciful, abounding in steadfast love (Joel 2:13). When disaster strikes, He is filled with compassion (Joel 2:18) and able to bring blessing out of adversity (Joel 2:14). God is good, Joel encourages his brothers and sisters, God is good.

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In this season of pain and scarcity, I am comforted by God's promise to someday restore the years the locusts have eaten (Joel 2:25). One day, He assures the Israelites, the land will again produce crops in abundance and His people will no longer be hungry or ashamed (Joel 2:24-27).

I don't know what this restoration will look like for my family. I recognize that it may not mean that Sam will ever be mentally whole again, even as I plead desperately with God for this specific restoration. But in the dark valley of decision, I will choose to trust that however God acts in His sovereignty, He will bring something good out of these long years the locusts have eaten.

Footnote:

(1) 10 Things to Know About the Locust Plague (https://www.savethechildren.org/us/charity-stories/locust-outbreak-facts-causes)