Bugs

I have read this verse many times...

"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
Joel 2:25 (NIV)

and I read it with great hope, hope for restoration after so many stresses especially of the past two years.

But I didn't really focus much on this other verse in the chapter before this...

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 (New International Version)

Yeah buddy, as they say in the South, that is where we are at!

That doesn't sound like a great spiritual tidbit to chew on but it makes me realize that yes, God does understand the massive stress and seeming abandonment we have felt, and is promising to restore us. I'll take that...and grab ahold of it with a fierce grip.