What the locust swarm has left the great locusts have eaten; what the great locusts have left the young locusts have eaten; what the young locusts have left other locusts have eaten. Joel 1:4
Our sins are locusts. They will consume us if we let them. One sin will destroy us while the consequences of others pig-pile on and break us further. Then, other sins can do even more, maybe even worse.
Let’s say we do something really terrible: murder, or really dirty adultery, or stealing from a church or a poor old woman with nothing. Let’s say you do that and you get away with it. Eventually, the exhilaration of not getting caught will wear you down. That’s when the guilt will start. It’ll be guilt that won’t leave you alone. No matter what you do, you won’t be able to shake it for long, won’t be able to fill up your time with meaningless activities to avoid dealing with that guilt. One day, though, you’ll grow numb to it; you might be able to bury it and think you’re moving forward.
But it never really stays buried. Maybe your conscience will bother you. Maybe something small will happen that will unravel the blanket you’ve built to cover it up. Maybe you’ll find it takes a lie, or a series of lies, to keep it quiet, keep it buried, keep it hidden. Maybe what shred of integrity you think you’re holding onto will unravel you bit by bit, day by day. Maybe, one day, you’ll look in the mirror and not recognize the good person who you thought you once were.
You’ve been eaten by locusts. The big sin ate at the harvest of your good will, and you let it eat away at your relationship with God. And when you accepted the big sin, then lesser but even more destructive sins began to take root. Like slow drips of water, they erode your senses of Godly honor and honest character. What God said to you so long ago still matters, but, in time, you lose your hold on it until the simple truth He always tells seems like lies in a foreign language.
Friend, there’s still a way out for us; there’s always a way out. There was a way out for Pharoah, but he never took it. There was a way out for ancient Israel, but they usually turned away from it. There’s always a way out for me and you when we lose our way, if only we have the common sense to look up, cry out for Jesus and forgiveness, then repent. Only then we can move forward, out of the swarm of locusts.
For more reading: Exodus 10:5-15, Deuteronomy 28:39, Amos 7:1, Nahum 3:15, Joel 1:5
Lord, I don’t want my life destroyed by the locusts of my sins. I’m sorry for what I’ve said and done. Help my unbelief.
If you’d like to know more about Practical Proverbials, contact aspiringwriterdt@gmail.com for more information
Practical Proverbs 