Unemployment is at 10 percent and likely to climb. Housing values are depressed and likely to fall. Business outlooks are gloomy, and personal budgets are stretched. They call it the Great Recession.

Can you imagine, however, what disaster looked like in ancient Israel? It began as a light cloud on the horizon that grew into a storm of millions and millions of bugs. Locusts—they devoured the grain, the leaves, the stalks and left nothing but famine in their wake.

In times of trouble, God has our attention, and he calls us to repent. But what does real repentance look like? Consider the words of the prophet who pointed to the coming locust clouds—Joel.

Contrition: Read Joel 1:1-12

1. Google "desert locust." Do the same on YouTube. Explore the magnitude of the impact a locust plague can have on an agrarian society.

Note: If you are in a small group, consider watching this YouTube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rMD2cCoki0 with the sound off, as some one reads Joel 2:1-11.

Is there anything in American history that could compare?

Answer - Perhaps the Dust Bowl.

2. The beginning of real repentance is called contrition. Why is contrition the first part of real repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10)?

Answer - He is not trying to make us feel guilty for guilt's sake, but for our sake. Godly sorrow leads us to the next stage, which is returning to God in repentance.

Return: Read Joel 1:13,14 and 2:12-14

3. Identify five activities that God wanted included in real repentance (Joel 1:13,14).

Answer - Sackcloth, spending the night before the LORD, fasting, sacred assembly, and going to the house of the Lord.

4. Put each of those activities in modern terms. What does God want our return to look like?

Answer - A repentant attitude that people can notice; time spent in devout prayer; outward acts that show our contrition, seeking out the encouragement of other Christians; going back to church!

5. Returning to the Lord means remembering God's past promises. See 2 Chronicles 7:13,14. How had God prepared for Israel's return? How does God do the same for us?

Answer - He gave promises meant for sinners—when you sin, return to me and I promise to heal you. One of the most poignant ways God makes similar promises to us is in our baptism.

6. The real reason to return to the Lord isn't locusts or bank failures. What is it (Joel 1:15)?

7. Look at 2:12-14. In Joel's day people made an outward show of sorrow by rending their clothes. When do we make outward displays of repentance that don't affect the heart?