‘Even now,’ declares the Lord, ‘return to me with all your heart… Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love…’
(Joel 2:12–13)
Joel first spoke these words to people under real pressure. Their land had been hit by disaster, and there was fear about the future. Into that fear comes a simple invitation from God: “Return to me with all your heart.” The reason we can return is not that we are good, but that God is good.
Joel names four truths about who God is.
First, God is gracious: he gives what we do not deserve and could never earn. When people had turned away from him, his word was not “Go away from me,” but “Return to me… for I am gracious.” We do not have to sort ourselves out before we come; we come with empty hands, and he is ready to forgive.
Second, God is compassionate. He feels deeply for his people and sees our pain, our tears, and even our failures. In Jesus, we see this compassion in action, as he weeps, heals, and welcomes those others push away. God does not say “Hide it better,” but “Rend your heart… return to the Lord your God, for he is… compassionate.”
Third, God is slow to anger. Many imagine God as quick to punish, but Joel shows us a God who waits, warns, and gives time to turn back. His patience is not an excuse to ignore him forever; it is an open door that is still open “even now.”
Fourth, God is abounding in love. His love is not thin or fragile; it overflows and is steady, a love you can build a life on. Joel tells us that when people truly return to him, God holds back disaster and delights to show mercy instead. In Jesus’ death and rising, we see this love most clearly: God does not leave us to our ruin but works to restore us.
Joel’s call, “Rend your heart and not your garments,” reminds us that God is not impressed by outward show. He wants our real hearts: honest, tired, hopeful, afraid, or broken. Wherever you find yourself today, carrying sin, grief, questions, or simple weariness, these four truths still stand: God is gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in love. And his invitation still comes to each of us: “Even now… return to me with all your
heart.”
