03/06/2026
From the 🩷 of Jenn
Joel 2:12–13
“Even now—this is the Lord’s declaration—
turn to Me with all your heart,
with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
Tear your hearts, not just your clothes,
and return to the Lord your God.
For He is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger, abounding in faithful love,
and He relents from sending disaster.”
Today God led me to the book of Joel.
Joel is a small book in the Old Testament, but sometimes the smallest books hold some of the hardest truths to process. As I read it, I kept coming back to one word: repentance.
Believing in God is beautiful.
But repentance… that part is not always glamorous.
Repentance requires humility.
It requires us to look honestly at our hearts and admit where we have gone wrong. Yet Joel reminds us of something powerful: God isn’t asking for a performance. He isn’t asking us to tear our clothes in outward sorrow. He is asking us to tear our hearts open before Him.
Real repentance is not about appearance —
it’s about surrender.
Joel reminds me that if we skip repentance, what exactly do we believe God has saved us from?
But the beauty of these verses is the promise that follows.
God is gracious.
He is compassionate.
He is slow to anger and full of faithful love.
These last few months, I have been working on that very thing in my own life — becoming slower to anger and learning to walk in the faithful love God calls us to. I don’t want my life to bring disgrace to the name of the Lord. I want my life to reflect His goodness.
And when I stop and look honestly at my life, I can see that the Lord has done astonishing things.
Even in the hard seasons…
Even in the moments when I only see the darkness…
God is still working.
Joel reminds us that the Lord is our refuge and our stronghold. He is not a distant God waiting to punish us. He is a loving Father waiting for us to return.
So today I choose this truth:
✨ Repentance isn’t punishment — it’s an invitation back to the heart of God.
— From the 🩷 of Jenn