"But as for
you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too
little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be
ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of
eternity." And He will arise and shepherd His flock In the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the
name of the LORD His God. And they will remain, because at that time He will be
great to the ends of the earth. This One
will be our peace. Micah
5:2,4-5a
On Hampton Plantation in coastal South Carolina there used to live an elderly sharecropper, illiterate but very wise. One of his favorite sayings was this: If you ain’t in trouble, your prayers ain’t got no suction.” Translation: It is our desperation that increases our determination to draw God to us in time of trouble.
The Bible declares
that our extremity is God’s opportunity. God is most likely to be found at your
wit’s end, just when you need Him most, when you have run out of answers and
almost out of hope. Consider the great
prophets of the Old Testament: Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, Hosea, and Isaiah.
These were not prosperity prophets. No, they were aroused by God in times of
crisis, even of national disaster.
Jesus did not visit
this planet when we became good enough to receive him. “While
we were yet sinners,” says the Bible, “Christ
died for the ungodly.” He
faced us at our worst, and loved us anyway, all the way to a cross.
What does this mean
for you and me in this season? It means this: Those who enter this holy season with the greatest needs stand the best
chance of encountering the Messiah.
What causes me to believe this?
I’ll tell you. I got it straight
from an Old Testament prophet named Micah.
Seven hundred years
before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Micah was called by God to speak his word
to the nation of Judah. Though just a
simple farmer, he was utterly fearless.
The national situation was awful: morals were low, crime was rampant,
the government was decadent, the courts were corrupt, most organized religion
was formalistic and cold, and the dominant religion was materialism. Yes, that could be a description of
contemporary America, but actually I’m talking about Judah in 700 B.C. To make matters worse, Judah was a tiny
nation precariously perched between two hostile superpowers--Assyria and
Egypt. The nation had about as much
security as a fly in a room full of lizards.
At that critical
moment, Micah lambasted the nation’s sin.
But he did much more than that.
Inspired by God, he looked out into the future and said: A Messiah will be born in tiny
Bethlehem. God is going to send someone
great to us. So don’t despair. God has good news coming!
Micah and his
people could only look forward to the Messiah’s coming at some future
date. We are much more fortunate. We live in the afterglow of a Bethlehem
manger, an atoning cross, and an empty tomb. What Micah could only promise, we
can actually receive and appropriate.
The Bethlehem arrival of God’s Son has brought us peace and power. Though the world may not be changed, we can
be. This One will be
our peace.
Scripture to Claim:
Glory to God in
the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.
Luke 2:14
Luke 2:14
