What have you turned To?

Micah 5:5b-15

Have you ever given thought to how self-confidence seems to always be at odds with God-confidence?  What is self-confidence and what do some of the smartest people in the world have to say on the subject?  “Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings.” (Samuel Johnson)  Mr. Johnson would have fit well into the mind set of the people of Micah’s time, for they were confident in their own strength and had a false belief they could raise up leaders against Assyria and even rule over them.  How about this quote:  “Smile, for everyone lacks self-confidence and more than any other one thing a smile reassures them.”  (Anrdre Maurois)  Is Mr. Maurois saying, just con them with a smile, maybe a lot of that also was happening at the time Micah was prophesizing!  And one last quote from the great writer Edgar Allan Poe, “I have great faith in fools; self-confidence my friends call it.”

So one must ask, what is God-confidence?  It has a starting point and for this writer it began in the very first words of the Scriptures, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  God-confidence has its beginning in agreement with this verse, and confidence that the Creator has all authority is all- knowing, (has never had to learn anything) He is all-powerful, (is always sufficient, and needs nothing outside of Himself) and He is ever-present, (been to the front and back of what you and I call time).  I believe it was T. W. Hunt who said; “I praise You, Lord, for being self-sufficient.  You alone need nothing outside of Yourself.  Your sufficiency is a storehouse for all who love You.  We need only draw upon Your limitless resources.”  And that is God-confidence, or better-stated confidence in God and not putting faith in self.

Now Micah was talking to a nation that Edgar Allan Poe’s quote could refer to as fools, and so does the Scriptures as stated in Proverbs 26:12, “Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes?  There is more hope for a fool than for him.”  Proverbs 1:7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”  And my last example of such people is found in Psalms 14:1, “Only fools say in their hearts, "There is no God." They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good!”

When a person, a church or a nation gets self-dependent, full of confidence in their wealth, the role they have in society, the military or heaven forbid the government, watch-out for that is where the people and the nation were in Micah’s time.  The more a people or a nation turn from God they must turn to something else and it was in what they could do, what they believed falsely in, wealth, self, and military might, and instead of seeking God they sought fortune-tellers.  Are we not hearing the same voices in our nation, people are running to the churches that promise them wealth and happiness, and where the message of humbling, serving, and seeking the will of holy God is not being preached?  Could the message of Micah be aimed at the Church?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice