They do not understand His Plan

Micah 4:6-13

Micah is seeing a day in which you and I refer to as the future, it’s a day when the Lord will rescue Zion.  Listen in on what this prophet is sharing with the Judean people: “In that day, declares the LORD, I will assemble the lame and gather those who have been driven away and those whom I have afflicted; and the lame I will make the remnant, and those who were cast off, a strong nation; and the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion from this time forth and forevermore.” (Micah 4:6-7 ESV)  Now that does not hold up to the message being promoted at many of the seeker friendly churches of our time, or by the name it and claim it preachers with their large following.  Now, let that thought go deep into your soul, for it is the Spirit of God who is saying that He has afflicted.  Listen also to the fact that it is the lame and those who were driven out, the poor and the homeless that our Lord will be gathering; are not those the ones we often look down on?

Now the Spirit speaking through Micah’s lips tells them to quit crying as if they did not have a king, or a protector, and to quit acting like a woman in labor.  In fact, He is telling them they will be dispersed, in fact you will go to Babylon and there the Lord will rescue you from your enemies.  Now you may be at a stage in life where you are the lame, or the homeless, and it seems that hope has vanished, in fact you may identify with the feelings of these people Micah is talking to, all you see is the enemy looking to destroy you.

If you find yourself identifying with the lame and the ones driven out, then listen to these words that are so encouraging: “But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD; they do not understand his plan, that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.

Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hoofs bronze; you shall beat in pieces many peoples; and shall devote their gain to the LORD, their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth.”  (Micah 4:12-13 ESV) Your Father in heaven has not forgotten you, in fact, He may have afflicted you so that you will look up and be part of His plan to prosper you, not to harm you.  Do you recall Jeremiah’s letter to the exiles; “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)  And never forget what Jesus said to us in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

My dear fellow believers in Jesus Christ, we often are like a man watching sports on TV, who only hear what they want to hear from their wife.  But Jesus has spoken by the prophet Micah and others and He has also stated these words to us while in His earthsuit on planet earth; “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”  So if you are going through a time of tribulation, take heart, your Father is well aware of it, and He may have allowed it for your good, though at the moment it seems as if your cries are not being answered.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice