Agriculture is a vital sector in the South African economy. So when it was blighted by a harsh drought in 2015, it seemed that the entire nation mobilized in earnest prayer and drastic action. When ordinary people saw heartbreaking images of starving animals and desperate farmers on TV, they filled water bottles and drove hundreds of kilometers to deliver them to the thirsty. Farmers who had grain and hay bales stocked their trucks and shared with those in need. When calamity struck, the community sought God and rallied for much-needed relief.
Unlike the natural disaster in South Africa, the people of Israel once found themselves suffering the supernatural consequences of their defiance against God—drought and famine brought on by swarms of feasting locusts (Joel 1:4-9). They were unrelenting in their destruction: “The fields are ruined, the land is stripped bare. The grain is destroyed, the grapes have shriveled, and the olive oil is gone” (Joel 1:10). Through Joel, God told His people to “turn to me now, while there is still time. Give me your hearts” (Joel 2:12).
The destruction by the locusts and the call of God pointed the people to repentance. “I will give you back what you lost to the swarming locusts . . . . It was I who sent this great destroying army against you” (Joel 2:25). God also reassures them with a promise: “I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions” (Joel 2:28).
Through the conviction brought by the Holy Spirit, may we seek to confess and repent of our sins. Approaching God in this way leads to the outpouring of His comfort and blessing.
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Ephesians 6:10-20
More:
Read 1 John 1:9 and consider what happens when we confess our sins to God.
Next:
What do you need to confess to God today? How does repentance reveal our faith and trust in Jesus?
Gary Shultz on December 2, 2016 at 5:58 am
Hi Ruth, I hope you are adapting well in your new location. This post splits my thoughts in two ways first is the judgement because pride and unfaithfulness. The stark view of destruction as God removes His hand of blessing. To see that first hand must be a horrific scene. The second of course are those who came to help in the case of the devastation in South Africa. That plays out on a national or regional scale. USA is seeing some crazy natural convulsions for some time now, fires, floods, twisters, cold, on it goes as we pull away from God because we do not need such a thing. Of course there are small disasters that happen right under our noses, strokes, cancer, many attacks from illness and disease. So what do we do? Do we get in our trucks and bring help? Probably not enough. There are opportunities everywhere on an individual basis to bring kindness back into their lives. That has to be some of the reason why we are here to refresh withered souls. And yes, there needs to be an accounting and confession of sin. Thanks Ruth
gagirllive on December 2, 2016 at 7:44 am
Gary, your use of the word “convulsions” is spot on. It seems that the entire earth is convulsing as we draw nearer to seeing our Lord return. Reminds me of what Paul says in Romans 8: 22—“For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs”—speaking of how the earth is under the curse and devastating effects of sin and desires to be released. We certainly see that, in increasing measure, don’t we?
Ruth O'Reilly-Smith on December 2, 2016 at 11:58 am
I agree Gary and gagirllive – I have a great sense that we are living in the end days and there is an increasing urgency for us to live surrendered to God and His will.
godlove on December 2, 2016 at 6:16 am
Our GOD is truly a wonderful God indeed! Even when He is angry, His loving nature still comes across. We know “He does not punish us for all our sins; He does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.” (Psalm 103:10) But yet, even in His anger, we only need to confess and repent of our sins and He promises to bless us again. He wishes for us to turn away from our sins and turn back to Him, promising an outpour of His love in the form of rich blessings if we do. How awesome is that! It’s just a pity that I have this sinful flesh to deal with which keeps pulling me back, preventing me from benefitting from the fullness of God’s blessings due to the unending cycle of sin and repentance. I look forward to the day when I will be free at last, free to serve Him and praise Him without having that hindrance of sin any longer. Thank you , Ruth, and blessed weekend to you and to everyone, with love.
gagirllive on December 2, 2016 at 8:02 am
I hear and understand your frustration, godlove. Our struggle does seem like an unending cycle of sin and repentance. Every sin is a lie and it is rebellion against God. We must never give ourselves over to “settled rebellion”. One thing I have found helpful is to completely expose the lie that my besetting sin is. I call it what it is. I ask myself why I am choosing to believe and act on it. I slay it with the truth of God’s word—search the scriptures and find every verse dealing with it. Study them and memorize them so that you have some ammunition when the temptation comes up again. Speak the word ALOUD because the devil can’t read your mind. 🙂 Beloved, it is for freedom that Christ has made us free. We have everything we need to walk in victory. Addictions are strongholds—areas of our lives that we have given ground to the devil. Begin again through confession and repentance as often as you need to, but know this: In Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can have victory! Always praying for you, dear brother.
godlove on December 5, 2016 at 1:40 am
Thanks very much for the suggestions, gagirl. I will definitely try to follow your advice and I pray I finally get the long-awaited relief I so desperately seek for. I know Christ has achieved victory over sin for us, I now need to make His victory mine as well but I can’t do it without help from the Holy Spirit. So I pray to God everyday pleading that the Spirit should help me break down this stronghold which I have allowed to develop. Thank you for your encouragement and prayers, my dear sis, it means so much to me.
gagirllive on December 5, 2016 at 7:43 am
Amen, godlove. We are already victorious in Christ. We just have to learn to walk in it, dear brother. We have the Holy Spirit’s power living in us. We have the quick and powerful sword of God’s word available to us. Let’s keep our minds saturated with it. We have prayer—real and honest communication with God—another weapon and source of great strength! Godlove, oftentimes I think the one thing lacking on our part is having a PLAN. We have to aggressively pursue the demolition of these strongholds by having an action plan. Identify the triggers (emotional and physical) that lead you to this sin. Put up boundaries and barricades (emotional and physical) that will minimize the temptation. At the slightest inkling and provocation of this sin, RUN, TURN AWAY. LITERALLY, if you can. By now, you know its pattern and method of operation. Strongholds have a very predictable pattern. Know it and be armed to pull it down. And like Ruth said, find a trusted accountability partner to walk with you through this—someone to share and pray with, someone who will ask you the hard questions that demand an honest answer. I want you to walk in freedom from this! Believing and praying that you will, dear one.
gagirllive on December 5, 2016 at 8:52 am
Godlove, I might get banned from the forum for dragging this post out. 🙂 I just feel so burdened for you and want to see you walk in victory. I wanted to share with you an example from my own life and how I dealt with a stronghold. Years ago, when I was a young married woman, I got us into a lot of financial trouble because of a stronghold called covetousness. I was never content. I always wanted more, better, different. I was a committed Christian, but I had a big problem in my life. Sadly, it was a long time before I was able to identify the real root of the problem…and the triggers that activated it in my life. Because of the particular brokenness in my family of origin, I was deeply wounded, insecure, and full of shame. Whenever those things surfaced in my emotions (the triggers), I tried to bury them by buying more stuff that I thought would make me feel better about myself. The Lord had to show me that I was BELIEVING A LIE and that I was trying to tend to my own wounds rather than looking to Him as my Healer. It wasn’t until I recognized the lies and the triggers, and brought them to the cross, that I began to make some progress with this stronghold. I dug into God’s word about covetousness, greed, contentment, comparisons, shame and did a study on who I am in Christ…that my identity is not in things or accomplishments or what others think of me or my family background. After I began to deal honestly and openly (bringing it to the Light) with God, the Lord told me to make a PLAN. I got on a strict budget, cut up all my credit cards, stayed out of the stores (except for necessities like food), and radically forsook any and all activities that would lead me to overspending. It was hard. I had setbacks, but with the enabling power of the Holy Spirit, that stronghold was broken in my life. I dealt with the ROOT of the problem and got out of debt! I share this with you to give you a picture of what the road to walking in victory looks like. You have to do more than repeat the cycle of crying, confessing, and repenting, only to keep doing the same thing over again. This is war. Fight like a man. 🙂 “PUT INTO ACTION God’s saving work in your life, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the DESIRE to obey Him and the POWER to do what pleases Him.” (Philippians 2: 12-13) Be encouraged, brother.
godlove on December 6, 2016 at 1:47 am
Thank you so very much, dear gagirl. I’m really very grateful indeed for your support. You understand this situation so well, I’m sure if it was possible you could be a great accountability partner for me. I’m not sure I can find one around me who will not get all judgmental with me, especially if it keeps dragging on (not like I haven’t tried, the one I tried with either didn’t see the situation worthy of concern). I have tried putting up boundaries, probably not strong enough. Actually, sometimes it disappears for a season, up to months, then suddenly it shows its ugly head again and I’m stuck in it again. I know I am doing something wrong somewhere but I can’t yet lay a finger on what it might be. Thanks a lot for sharing your personal experience, there is a lot for me to learn there. I will try to adapt what worked for you to my own situation and I pray that it helps me too. I very much appreciate your taking the time off to help me with tips and advice, and especially for your encouraging words. I fully identify with the words in Romans 7:15 “I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.” But I refuse to give up because I know that with God, nothing is impossible. So I will keep pressing on until I’m blessed with liberation and victory in my struggle. Thank you again, dear sister. May God’s grace keep you always.
Ruth O'Reilly-Smith on December 2, 2016 at 12:18 pm
Hi godlove and amen gagirllive. Although we live in this broken world and are therefore susceptible to the attack of the enemy, we are able to become more Christ-like through the power of the Holy Spirit and daily surrender to God and the truth of His Word. I agree wholeheartedly with the suggestions gagirllive has made and also encourage you to ask God, by His Holy Spirit to show you where you have given the enemy a foothold. The Bible urges us to confess our sins to each other (James 5:16). When we confess our sin to God and to someone else (someone we can trust and has our best interests at heart), this takes away the power of the sin over our lives and gives us someone who we can be accountable to and who can pray for us. This is the beauty of the body of Christ – we sharpen each other.
godlove on December 5, 2016 at 1:44 am
Thank you for the encouraging words, Ruth. Thank you, too, for your advice and suggestions.
gagirllive on December 2, 2016 at 7:31 am
How do you know whether something is natural or supernatural, Ruth? Isn’t everything ultimately from the hand of God? These are the questions I ask myself when I see the devastating disasters occurring all around the world. Is God speaking through this? We won’t fully understand the reasons behind all that transpires on this side of eternity, but I believe our response should be the same, whether natural or supernatural. Like the people of South Africa, we need to turn to God in confession and repentance and to one another in loving community. This is the picture of the cross in our lives—loving God (the vertical line) and loving others (the horizontal line). Also, what you’ve written here, Ruth, takes me back once again to the beatitude, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (Matt 5: 4) The favor of God (grace) is upon those who are broken and contrite over their sin. It is this genuine brokenness and grief over our sin that leads us to confession and repentance which God promises to bring comfort and spiritual prosperity. Isaiah 66: 2 says, “This is the one on whom I will show favor: he who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word.” Brokenness for blessing. Not a bad transaction. Thank you, Ruth, for sharing stories from your life with us. Grace and peace to you and to all who travel here today.
Ruth O'Reilly-Smith on December 2, 2016 at 12:10 pm
Hi again gagirllive. I believe in this case, it’s a reference to a literal locust invasion, which took place shortly after this prophecy, the coming invasion of Israel’s enemies and the coming future end-of-days judgement. God is speaking to us all the time – through His Word, through people, through circumstances and in many other ways. I believe that God speaks to me through circumstances and I do very much believe in the spiritual significance of global events and how they point to God at work in the lives of humanity. I’m reminded of Luke 21: 34-36 (The Message) “But be on your guard. Don’t let the sharp edge of your expectation get dulled by parties and drinking and shopping. Otherwise, that Day is going to take you by complete surprise, spring on you suddenly like a trap, for it’s going to come on everyone, everywhere, at once. So, whatever you do, don’t go to sleep at the switch. Pray constantly that you will have the strength and wits to make it through everything that’s coming and end up on your feet before the Son of Man.”
gagirllive on December 2, 2016 at 12:15 pm
Amen, Ruth! Love the way The Message puts it…straight up. Thanks for sharing that.