You might be right in the middle of trouble caused by missteps in judgement, misleading trust in what is not really true, or relying people who told you lies.  You arrive at truth but to undo what you have done will be monumental and costly to you.  We might be down but not out.  According to Micah, God knows and God is not finished with us yet.  As long as we live and breathe, God is always at work. 

God is for us, not against us—even when we make mistakes.  He will help us live through it, help us clean up the mess we made, learn from it and then help us move forward with new wisdom from Him.  Yes, even though overwhelmed for a moment, God’s mercy, grace, compassion, and love lasts a lifetime and beyond to eternity.  Don’t give up, stick around to see what God will do to help us through temporary inconveniences, troubles, challenging finances, family issues with fractured relationships…anything and everything that happens to us will affect what is happening in us.  What does God require of us while He is working in us?

“But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, And don’t take yourself too seriously—take God seriously.”  Micah 6:8, MSG

Micah 7, The Message

^1-6 I’m overwhelmed with sorrow!
    sunk in a swamp of despair!
I’m like someone who goes to the garden
    to pick cabbages and carrots and corn
And returns empty-handed,
    finds nothing for soup or sandwich or salad.
There’s not a decent person in sight.
    Right-living humans are extinct.
They’re all out for one another’s blood,
    animals preying on each other.
They’ve all become experts in evil.
    Corrupt leaders demand bribes.
The powerful rich
    make sure they get what they want.
The best and brightest are thistles.
    The top of the line is crabgrass.
But no longer: It’s exam time.
    Look at them slinking away in disgrace!
Don’t trust your neighbor,
    don’t confide in your friend.
Watch your words,
    even with your spouse.
Neighborhoods and families are falling to pieces.
    The closer they are—sons, daughters, in-laws—
The worse they can be.
    Your own family is the enemy.

* * *

⁷ But me, I’m not giving up.
    I’m sticking around to see what God will do.
I’m waiting for God to make things right.
    I’m counting on God to listen to me.

Spreading Your Wings

^8-10 Don’t, enemy, crow over me.
    I’m down, but I’m not out.
I’m sitting in the dark right now,
    but God is my light.
I can take God’s punishing rage.
    I deserve it—I sinned.
But it’s not forever. He’s on my side
    and is going to get me out of this.
He’ll turn on the lights and show me his ways.
    I’ll see the whole picture and how right he is.
And my enemy will see it, too,
    and be discredited—yes, disgraced!
This enemy who kept taunting,
    “So where is this God of yours?”
I’m going to see it with these, my own eyes—
    my enemy disgraced, trash in the gutter.

* * *

^11-13 Oh, that will be a day! A day for rebuilding your city,
    a day for stretching your arms, spreading your wings!
All your dispersed and scattered people will come back,
    old friends and family from faraway places,
From Assyria in the east to Egypt in the west,
    from across the seas and out of the mountains.
But there’ll be a reversal for everyone else—massive depopulation—
    because of the way they lived, the things they did.

^14-17 Shepherd, O God, your people with your staff,
    your dear and precious flock.
Uniquely yours in a grove of trees,
    centered in lotus land.
Let them graze in lush Bashan
    as in the old days in green Gilead.
Reproduce the miracle-wonders
    of our exodus from Egypt.
And the godless nations: Put them in their place—
    humiliated in their arrogance, speechless and clueless.
Make them slink like snakes, crawl like cockroaches,
    come out of their holes from under their rocks
And face our God.
    Fill them with holy fear and trembling.

* * *

^18-20 Where is the god who can compare with you—
    wiping the slate clean of guilt,
Turning a blind eye, a deaf ear,
    to the past sins of your purged and precious people?
You don’t nurse your anger and don’t stay angry long,
    for mercy is your specialty. That’s what you love most.
And compassion is on its way to us.
    You’ll stamp out our wrongdoing.
You’ll sink our sins
    to the bottom of the ocean.
You’ll stay true to your word to Father Jacob
    and continue the compassion you showed Grandfather Abraham—
Everything you promised our ancestors
    from a long time ago.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Our God is abundant in love and steadfast in mercy. He saves us, not because we trust in other humans, traditions, religious symbols, or ceremonies, but because we trust in a Savior.

Micah lamented because there were no godly people left in the land. Looking for a godly person was as futile as looking for summer fruit after the harvest was over.  Not only was Micah grieved at the corruption of the officials, but also, he was grieved at the unfaithfulness of the common people of the land. You couldn’t trust anybody! Has our society come to this realization?  It seems that way if you do business with the world.

When truth is no longer the standard for society, then everything starts to fall apart; faithfulness to our word is the cement that holds society together. The situation had deteriorated to the point where neighbor couldn’t trust neighbor and friends couldn’t trust each other. 

Micah reached a turning point when he looked away from the sins of the people and meditated on the faithfulness of the Lord. He would “look” and “wait” and put his trust only in the Lord. This forms a bridge between sin and judgment with Hope.  When it all seems hopeless, we need to stand firm with God, and stick around because Hope is at work.

Micah’s final words tell us that there is no one like our God!  He extols God’s character, particularly His unfailing love. God doesn’t ignore our sins, but in His compassion He “sinks our sins” into the depths of the ocean!  Jesus paid the debt of our sins, now and forever.  Believe and be saved.

Hope faces God’s righteous and inevitable judgment but dares to look beyond it, knowing that God always keeps His promise to love us unfailingly.  Yes, there is no one like our God!  There is no one we can trust with our lives but God. Trust Him.  Do what He says—then stick around to see what He will do. 

Lord,

We realize that amid trouble, You have been there all the time.  You know what we are going through and you will provide a way over, around and through it.  I trust you, dear Jesus, with all my life.  I love you with all that is in me.  Be our wisdom and strength today.  Forgive us when we trust in anything not You or in anyone who does not believe in You.  Have mercy on us, Lord.

In Jesus Name, Amen