Who Is Like God? – Part 6 – Micah 4:8-5:15
July 30, 2017Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Speaker: Jerry Cisar
Sheryl Sandberg tells the story of how she processed grief after her husband of 11 years dropped dead while they were at a resort in Mexico. She gives insight into how someone who is not a believer processes grief.1 She gives a fair observation of life under the sun: “Tragedy does more than rip away our present; it also tears apart our hopes for the future. Accidents shatter people’s dreams of being able to support their families. Severe illnesses prevent people from finding work or love. Divorce erases future anniversaries…. Our possible selves – who we hoped to become – can be collateral damage.”
If tragedy can rip away our present and tear apart our hopes for the future, then the exile–when God’s people would be carried away from their homes captive to another land (imagine being herded up and brought to Iran to spend the rest of your life)–would make hope impossible. Yet in Micah 4 & 5 God imparts hope, supernatural hope, to His faithful ones who will need it to make it through what lays ahead for them. Do you need such hope?
This isn’t about optimism, or looking on the bright side. It’s about knowing that what God is doing with our suffering is greater than what we are losing. Micah has his work cut out for Him, but He is just the one God chose for the task. By revealing His plans for their future and how He will turn defeat into victory, the Lord not only comforts and strengthens His people who faced the suffering of exile, He comforts and strengthens us when we face serious suffering.