I miss my cockroaches. (Sure, they’re disgusting, but they stay away if you spray.) I moved from the South to the North, and now I’m bombarded by a bunch
of other bugs. Gnats gnaw on my neck. I swat; they swarm. Then come the horseflies. And mosquitoes! People here wear t-shirts picturing “skeeters” as the state bird.
It isn’t funny when itches and
welts keep your kids up at night.
My wife is least pleased by centipedes—hundred-legged, loath-some squirmies that crawl in cupboards and slip between bedsheets. At least the spiders here aren’t as big or as hairy.



I live a bugged life and so do
you. The things that bug us extend beyond insects and arachnids. There is the weather. (We don’t like the cold, or we can’t stand the heat.) There are the woes of the road. (We are tired of city traffic, weary of the long drive in from the country, and bothered by countless potholes.)



Life has its problems wherever you live. We cannot cultivate a place fully protected from pests and harm. Nowhere is there immunity from sickness. Not a single household
can avoid troubles, stress, and
ultimately, death. In a world marred by sin, there will be frustration
and catastrophe. These things remind us that an end to this
world is coming and that our
help and hope must come from someplace else.



Past and present problems
in the Promised Land



In biblical times, a bug infestation of apocalyptic proportions once demonstrated this lesson.
God voiced warnings and promises through the prophet Joel in the
aftermath of a locust plague. My impression of locusts in the Middle East is that they are like enraged grasshoppers on steroids. They come in hordes and devour everything in sight. Joel described the plague of them as a lion-fanged, numberless nation (Joel 1:6). They blew in as ominous clouds. They
left behind a withered wasteland. There would be no joyful harvest that year, only struggle and hunger.



God used this occasion to call
his people closer to himself: “ ‘Even now,’ declares the Lord, ‘return to me with all your heart, . . . Return
to the Lord your God, for he is
gracious and compassionate’ ”
(Joel 2:12,13).



God himself was the only reliable refuge for his people. Their country could not ensure their security. Their lives could be (and were) disrupted by pestilence and drought. At various times, Israel was overrun by enemy armies. The homeland God had given was only an emblem of
a greater, eternal home with God. Plots of ground were never meant
to be ends in themselves.



Significantly, the Promised
Land has remained a problem place. In 1881, the first aliyah (immigration) of modern Jewish settlers began “going up” to
Eretz Israel (Land of Israel).
They were “Lovers of Zion,”