“…for your land shall not yield its produce…”

[EDIT, 12/27/2008: Thankfully, Mr. Tony Marcinelli noticed (as you can see in the comments, below) that the article I have linked to in this post is an out-of-date one.  Apparently, in my dealing with the "mess of e-mail" I had received -- filing, deleting, flagging, etc. -- I had mistaken an old e-mail from Mr. Davis as a recent one.  And shuffle-brained I must have been if it didn't hit me that I was treating John Howard as the current Prime Minister (hopefully Prime Minister Rudd will forgive me and not cancel any friendly visits he was planning to my home).  In its place, Mr. Marcinelli recommends a much more recent article that still fits in well with the 2 Chronicles 7 reference, below: "Locusts poised to destroy Australia's crops." It seems Australia just can't catch a break!

I leave the original post below as a monument to my absent-mindedness. However, do check out the locusts article.  Thanks, Mr. Marcinelli! -- WGS]

I missed this amongst a mess of e-mail I’ve received over the last few days.  Mr. Davis passed on a very sobering report in UK’s “The Independent” last Friday concerning the state of things in Australia that is worth a read:

• Australia’s epic drought: The situation is grim

And it really does seem grim, indeed.

Interesting line in the article: “But prayer may not suffice…”  The author of the article seems to intend the comment as a slam on Prime Minister John Howard, who suggested Australians must “hope and pray” and who — according to some — hasn’t done enough to address the problem.  And, admittedly, Australia’s drought problems haven’t been sneaking up on anyone, much like the financial crisis in the U.S. did not (that is, “The Financial Crisis formerly known as ‘The Impending Financial Crisis’”).

God tells us that unless we repent, He “will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze.  And your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit” (Lev. 26:19-20).  Christ, too, speaks of famines to come (Matt. 24:7, et al.).

The article says “prayer may not suffice,” but prayer and sincere repentance just might…

When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:13-14