05/15/22 Daily Devotion – Keep your eye on the prize!

“But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.” — Micah 7:7 (NIV84)

There are times when the choices of how to face something are few. Sometimes the choices boil down to two. Despair and hope. I know it must seem strange to offer up opposing ideas like this as the only choices, but look at the situation that Micah and the people of Israel were in. They were living in a period of political and spiritual unrest. Nations around them were constantly threatening their existence. Life was tough. At least three prophets were declaring destruction upon the people of Israel because the people were spiritually bankrupt. After considering all that, why wasn’t there only one choice — despair? How in the world could Micah or the people of that day find a reason to have hope? Everything they were seeing and hearing was just the opposite.

Does that sound familiar? When was the last time you saw or heard of good things happening in our society? We are living in a time of increased natural disasters. We are faced with record numbers of human atrocities. We too seem to be living in a spiritually bankrupt society. We see nations and people all over the world rising up in revolt. We seem to be living in times similar to Micah’s. What was his secret? How could he have hope in such circumstances? There is a hint in the verse above. He hoped and waited in his God and Savior. He knew that in the end his prayers were being heard.

Friends in Christ, if Micah’s contemporaries would have listened to the prophets more closely, they would have heard the Lord telling them that He would be with them through this terrible time and, in the end, would save them and bring them back to their land. The Lord told them ahead of time that He would make good come from their bad situation. He promises the same to you and me today. Yes! We live in troubling times, but the Lord is with us. Yes, the trials we live through are painful, but He promises they they are temporary and His blessings will follow. Most important, even if we die in this world, we will immediately rise to Heaven with Him.

So let’s not get overwhelmed by the circumstances of this world. Let’s watch and wait for our God and Savior to act.

Peace!

Pastor Tom

www.firmlyrooted.church

Let the world see Jesus in you!

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