Joba Chamberlain offers some friendly advice to baseball players following the Bug Game. “Vinegar or dryer sheets,” Chamberlain, the former Yankees pitcher, told MLB.com in 2017. “That’s how you get rid of them.” On Oct. 5, 2007, Chamberlain famously came undone against the Tribe in the “Bug Game.” During the eighth inning of Game 2 of the ALDS, Joba was on the mound to protect the Yankees’ 1-0 lead when midges, blood-sucking flying pests, swarmed him. He got so bugged out that he walked one player with a wild pitch before being sprayed by the trainer with insect repellent. For Chamberlain, it was a lesson learned that insect repellent is actually attractive to the midges, who were drawn to him all the more. Joba fell apart, and the headline read the next day as. “Bugs bite Yanks in ALDS Game 2.”

Joel 1-3 – Judgment of Locust

There was another bug attack during the prophet Joel’s day, but it was much more severe. Nothing escaped the all-consuming bugs that filled the fields of Judah. The prophet’s book followed a common theme among Old Testament books: God judges sin and calls people to repentance. Joel understood the locust plague as God’s way of drawing them back to Himself, along with the prophecy. God gave Joel a message in such a catastrophic time—mourn, pray for help, but know that this is only a sign of worse things to come. 

The prophet Joel warns the people to learn a lesson from the locust plague and call out to God to prevent a more severe disaster of divine discipline. However, it took a long time before they learned the secret of depending on God. Joel gave them tips on praying, storing up memories for future generations, and accepting the fact that God was using the disaster as a means of punishment.

The Kingdom Coach and Athlete when they are faced with difficult circumstances, they should devote themselves to prayer and seek purpose and meaning from it.

Bible Memory Verse – “But as for me, I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to Yahweh.” Jonah 2:9 (LSB)

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