“But as for me, I watch in hopefor the LORD, I wait for God my Savior” (Micah 7:7)
When the prophet Micah was serving, God’s people were not in good condition. The people’s relationship with God was broken. They transgressed God’s laws and were doing what was evil in God’s eyes. As a nation, they were not treating each other with love and care. They hurt each other. No one was showing compassion to one another. The people chose to kill each other instead of living together in love and tolerance. They chose bloodshed rather than reconciliation. They devised a way to trap the other.
The public leaders used to accept bribes from the people. They were not willing to serve the people with honesty and justice. The people paid money to get justice from the leaders. Justice was bought with money.
Because the times were evil, it was difficult for anyone to trust anyone. Neighbors who lived together had trouble trusting each other. No one could speak his/her heart to anyone. The saddest thing was that there was a lack of mutual respect and trust in the family. The husband could not trust his wife. The wife had trouble trusting her husband. Family members live with each other with suspicion.
At present, we are living in a situation that resembles the time of the prophet Micah. The cause of many conflicts and bloodshed in our time is the wickedness of the human heart and disobedience to God’s commandments. A nation that refuses to obey God cannot have peace with itself or with one another. The spiritual illness affects our whole life. If our relationships are damaged, so are our social bonds. Mistrust is one of the causes of conflict and one of the hindrances to reconciliation.
Although the people of Micah’s time were doing evil, disobeyed God, and refused to return to God, the prophet hoped in God. He believed that God could solve their problems. The solution to the holistic problem of the people is to trust God, hope in Him, and walk honestly before Him. Like the prophet, we fix our eyes on God, hope in Him, and cry out to Him for a lasting solution.
Pastor Desalegn Abebe
MKC President