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Locusts


Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
                “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten— the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm— my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed.  Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the Lord your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed. (Joel 2:23-27)

          Yesterday, I promised to write about the locusts after I did some research, but I’m disappointed. I was hoping for some explanation of the four-fold mention, but the locust doesn’t follow the pattern of the cicadas. There are no 13- or 17-year patterns. I don’t find four specific breeds of locust that might join in a swarm. There are four major stages of development: egg, nymph, fledgling, and adult, but that could be applied to any living thing. 
          Switching focus, I considered what the number four tends to represent. To the four winds, and “north, south, east, and west” tends to mean everywhere. Four seems to refer to a sense of completeness or totality. So four swarms of locusts would produce complete destruction. God repaying someone for the years the four kinds of locusts ate would result in complete restoration. 
          My prayer focus for yesterday was centers of communication. Putting aside the previous day’s applicable, “we are all centers of communication,” I focused on the more typical centers: the media (journalists, entertainers, celebrities and sports heroes, marketers), the idea communicators (schools & libraries), politicians and police officers, and possibly a few others that have slipped my mind. As I prayed for these groups, I also thought about what it is their “locusts” have devoured. 
          The first thing that came to mind is that their locusts have devoured truth. Even if a communication person wants to tell the truth, if it doesn’t fit what the boss says, or with what will gain the company more money or power, it’s not going to get told.
          In a similar way, the locusts the communication centers face also devour righteousness, decency, hope, honor, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, justice, mercy, and personal integrity. These are the things that should be feeding the souls of our centers of communication. It may be the same list will apply to all the other centers I’ll pray for during the week, but these are the things we need to pray that God will repay our centers of communication with … and for.

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