He will turn again, he
will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast
all their sins into the depths of the sea.
Micah 7:19
There is light at the
end of the tunnel; the grace and mercy which defines our God will be made
evident in your life beyond the fact that you are still breathing right not and
capable of reading this devotional… The children of God were challenged in their
faith and trust in God through the adversity and hardships that they face… We
all go through tough time and situations; however, you can take courage in knowing today that
trouble won’t last always… The bible declares to
us through its pages that the love of God will save, forgive, cleanse and
mature all who come to know and believe in Him… When I read this passage from
Micah I am reminded of the 30th Psalm, in the fifth verse these words are recorded, “For his anger lasts only a moment, but his
favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in
the morning…” I refer to this passage to
make the point that we will face situations that will leave us weeping; not
matter how long we endure them we can persevere knowing that joy will indeed
come… Our hope is not in the literal meaning of tomorrow, but that Christ will
show up at the right time and place which will bestow upon us the most joy we
can obtain from the aforementioned situation… Even though you may be in a rut or feeling down and out; you
should find peace in knowing that “He will turn again…” God
loves you and He wants to see you succeed… His desire is for you to reach
levels far above what the human eye can comprehend and for you to obtain a
weight of glory which Paul says that our present suffering cannot compare with…
The book of Lamentations, written by Jeremiah reminds us that God’s mercies
fail not; that they are new every morning, Jeremiah then goes on to tell us
that it is because of His compassion that we are not consumed and he concludes
by saying great is thy faithfulness… Micah echoes those same sentiments today;
the second part of this verse says, “…he will have compassion upon us;
he will subdue our iniquities…” Despite what you have done, despite
the decisions you have made, the love of God won’t allow you to be utterly cast
down… Sure, you will deal with the consequences of your actions, you will face
and reap what you have sown; however, you should be encouraged today to know
that the God will subdue our iniquities… He will carry them for us; He will pay
the ransom and cancel the debt upon our heads… This feat has already been
accomplished through the nail-scarred hands of Jesus Christ… The enemy doesn’t
want you to know this, but you need to know today that all of your past,
present and future mistakes have already been cast “…into the depths of
the sea…” You are no longer subject to the punishment due to such
actions that you have taken and wrongs that you have committed… Don’t give the
enemy the vice to make you think that you have been rejected and cast off… See,
we must soon realize today that we surely have made mistakes, but Micah wants
you to know that God will turn, He will come and see about you (see
Mary Magdalene at the savior’s tomb or the disciples hiding in the upper room),
He will restore you (just ask Peter after denying that he knew Jesus in
the courtyard) and He will clean you up and plant you feet on solid
ground (see Saul’s conversion and how God changed his name to Paul and
gave him a new lease on life…)
Today we find the
prophet Micah speaking of the present condition of children of God… He shines
light on the fact that we have been given a free will and because of the
choices and decisions that we make, we ultimately bare the consequences of our
actions! At the time when Micah writes this letter; we, just like the
Israelites have found ourselves putting a wall up or simply distancing
ourselves from the way and will of the Lord… We have walked the wrong road,
delighted in the wrong things and associated ourselves with the wrong kind of
people… Make no mistake about it, the Israelites were facing a time when it
appeared that God was distant (the reality was that dealing with the
consequences of our actions may make us think He is distant simply because we
want think we shouldn’t be subject to reaping what we have sown)… This
indeed is a time when there was no hope in sight and the enemy appeared to be
triumphant over them! Micah says He will turn again, understand that God
desires for us to walk according to His will, but will remove His hand when we
desire to walk in our own footsteps! Micah is providing the children with hope
today, saying that although you are facing trials, know that He will turn
again, He will lift you up, He will suppress your enemy and He will bless you
with victory… There will be times in our lives when we will feel the absences
of God due to circumstances that we tried to control, it is at this point that
we must humble ourselves and become dependent on God if we want Him to move on
our behalf! Trials come to make us strong and prep us for the next
level of God’s plan; not cause up to give up on our destiny… Micah says that He will cast all sins into the
depths of the sea… Jesus came to save on His first mission, when He returns He
will come to judge! Let us understand the words that Micah is saying today; God
hasn’t forgotten about you, He hasn’t given up on you, but you must endure the
hardships of life to be molded and prepared for Christ return… You must face
humbling circumstances, you must deal with heartache, but know that God is a
God of mercy; He will never put more on you than you can bare and He will
always be there! Trust Him, accept Him and walk according to His will… Trials may be raging, circumstance may seem
unbearable, but know that God is simply waiting for you to turn it over, focus
on His face and know that He has all power in the palm of His hand!
ALL FOR HIM!