Life and our response to it has become big business in the therapy community. This might be why:  Every circumstance must have a reason for it. If we cannot find the reason to explain it; we wallow in it. We become unsettled, anxious, miserable, and cranky. All those around us suffer because of our attitude.  If we have the funds, coupled with health insurance, we might purchase time from a therapist trained to help us find the peace we long for by giving us reasons to choose from that will satisfy our need to explain life.  Our human nature demands reasons for our troubles.  We also have strong tendencies with desire to blame someone else for our current situation so they become the reason that exonerates us as the reason.  (Disclaimer:  Those who suffer extreme depression from possible physical abnormalities or extreme mental occurrences should seek help from licensed, medical physicians.) 

There is this now a new behavior a lot of us lean into called “retail therapy.”  We add this to other man-made therapies of our day that we can do on our own!  When life is hard, we go shopping.  When we can’t solve an issue with someone; we browse Amazon to see what the world’s store has to offer.  When we cannot satisfy our real need; we seek stuff to fill the emptiness.  I confess, I have fallen for retail therapy as a temporary fix. But it doesn’t last.  There is no peace in this behavior, only another idol that distracts us from God who is peace.  The idols of our day end up in garage sales a few months later as we reprimand ourselves with, “What were we thinking?”  We weren’t thinking at all!

Micah is a man who stole money from his mother.  She is cursing over the loss.  He finally decides to confess. “It wasn’t a thief, mom, it was me.” What Micah’s mother did next might surprise you—she forgave him then blessed him with a new idol! What were they thinking?  The idol was designed from the stolen money to atone for his sin of stealing it! She and Micah had a real need—God. But she and Micah replaced God with silver idol that was placed in a prominent, designated area of his home.  Wow.

False worship of manmade stuff seeks peace of heart through all the wrong ways. A true relationship with God requires wholehearted obedience, not a token sacrifice or a temporary fix of atonement.

Judges 17

Micah’s Idols

Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim ² said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse—I have that silver with me; I took it.”

Then his mother said, “The Lord bless you, my son!”

³ When he returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, “I solemnly consecrate my silver to the Lord for my son to make an image overlaid with silver. I will give it back to you.”

⁴ So after he returned the silver to his mother, she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who used them to make the idol. And it was put in Micah’s house.

⁵ Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household gods and installed one of his sons as his priest. ⁶ In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.

⁷ A young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who had been living within the clan of Judah, ⁸ left that town in search of some other place to stay. On his way he came to Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim.

⁹ Micah asked him, “Where are you from?”

“I’m a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,” he said, “and I’m looking for a place to stay.”

¹⁰ Then Micah said to him, “Live with me and be my father and priest, and I’ll give you ten shekels of silver a year, your clothes and your food.” ¹¹ So the Levite agreed to live with him, and the young man became like one of his sons to him. ¹² Then Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in his house. ¹³ And Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Who or what are our idols that we use to soothe us? “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) in this and other areas of our daily lives.  Let us take some dedicated time to prayerfully reflect and repent as the Holy Spirit brings to our minds what thinking and resulting behaviors need to be removed from our lives. Then, just do it, with His power-filled help!

Are our homes morally confusing to our offspring?  Ouch.  Have you ever seen a family more spiritually and morally confused than this one? They managed to break almost all the Ten Commandments and yet not feel the least bit guilty before the Lord! In fact, they thought they were serving the Lord by the bizarre things they did!  Because Micah and his family didn’t submit to the authority of God’s Word, their home was a place of religious and moral confusion. It was a good deal like some homes today where the family worships the idols of money, children steal from their parents, and lie about what they do or where they are going. The family honor is unknown, and a place the true God is unwanted or neglected. Peace alludes each one.

“The sad part of the story is that Micah thought he had God’s favor because a genuine Levitical priest was serving as his private chaplain. Micah practiced a false religion and worshiped false gods (with Jehovah thrown in for good measure), and all the while he rested on the false confidence that God was blessing him!”—Warren Wiersbe

Old Testament priests were assigned as agents of God to provide spiritual guidance along with acts of sacrifice for the atonement of sin.  Then God sent His Son, Jesus, a part of Himself to be the ultimate sacrifice once and for all to remove the sins of the world.  God’s Holy Spirit then comes to live in all who believe and follow Jesus as redeemed children of God, joint heirs with Jesus.  God’s Holy Spirit is our Counselor, Helper, and Supreme Spiritual Advisor who guides His church—us—to all that is truth. 

Our response as followers is outlined for us in God’s Word. Here are a few precious gems that fill our real need of God when we trust and obey;

• “Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”—Jesus, Matthew 6:31-34

• “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” –Jesus, John 14:15-17

• “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”—Jesus, John 14:25-27

• “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”—Jesus, John 16:13

• “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”—Jesus, John 16:33

Our new identity as believers is in Jesus who died and rose again to save us and reconcile us to God.  All we need to know about God came from God through the teachings of Jesus, His Son. Our hope and inheritance of eternal life is because of Jesus. The gift of God’s Holy Spirit lives in us and speaks truth to us as promised by Jesus.  All we need and long for is Jesus!  There is no other Name but Jesus to worship in thanksgiving and praise! Paul was changed completely by Jesus and writes;

• “Think on these things,” writes Paul to God’s church, who spent the rest of his life after Jesus seeking to truly know Jesus and be like Him.  “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”—Paul, Philippians 3:10-12

• “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”—Paul, Philippians 4:6-8

Lord,

The story of Micah and his mom is not really that uncommon today.  There are so many pitfalls of idolatry that we need your power to avoid.  I repent of turning to anyone or anything but you when my mind is unsettled.  You alone are my peace that is world cannot give—only you.  Thank you for teaching us, reminding us that all we really need is You.  I trust you with my life because you are Life! I pray for lost ones who need you now.

In Jesus Name, Amen