#dailydevotionals

Start your day with morning coffee and a devotional.

Ruling Justly

Posted on by Betsy

It is interesting to consider people’s last words. Some are poignant, some humorous, and some are irreverent. It is said that Joan Crawford told those around her “don’t you dare ask God to help me” as she was dying. Winston Churchill is said to have uttered “I’m bored with it all” before his demise. But perhaps Karl Marx gets the last word on last words. He stated that “last words are for fools who haven’t said enough”. If that’s the case, don’t look to me for my last words, as I’m sure I have said more than enough for several lifetimes!

Today’s passage records the last words of David. These words are not necessarily “death bed” words, but the last oracle he would share at the end of his life:

2 Samuel (New Revised Standard Version)

23 Now these are the last words of David:

The oracle of David, son of Jesse,
    the oracle of the man whom God exalted,
the anointed of the God of Jacob,
    the favorite of the Strong One of Israel:

2 The spirit of the Lord speaks through me;
    his word is upon my tongue.

Having established his credentials as God’s spokesperson, he goes on to give guidance for rulers, according to God’s standard:
3 The God of Israel has spoken;
    the Rock of Israel has said to me:
“One who rules over people justly,
    ruling in the fear of God,
4 is like the light of morning,
    like the sun rising on a cloudless morning,
    gleaming from the rain on the grassy land.”

God has one standard: to rule justly. When our rulers rule in the fear (reverent awe, respect, faithful love) of God, the people will be well served. These rulers bring light and life to their constituents. David knew that even in his sinfulness, God would continue to allow his house to rule Israel because of the covenant that he made with David.

5 Is not my house like this with God?
    For he has made with me an everlasting covenant,
    ordered in all things and secure.
Will he not cause to prosper
    all my help and my desire?

Since Jesus was born of David’s lineage, the just ruler mandate continues through him and to all who consider themselves followers of Christ. But woe unto the godless rulers! They will be consumed by fire, much like the dead wood that God prunes from the branches that abide in Christ. (See John 15.)

6 But the godless are all like thorns that are thrown away,
    for they cannot be picked up with the hand;
7 to touch them one uses an iron bar
    or the shaft of a spear.
    And they are entirely consumed in fire on the spot.

These are great words for us today as we consider the rulers of this world from great nations down to the president of the local PTO. Those who rule justly will enjoy the warmth of God’s light. Those who don’t will be like thorns that are thrown away.

May it be so on earth as it is in heaven.

Consumed by the Fire by Michelle Robertson

“No”

Posted on by Betsy

I have a friend who is going through the last months of a decades-long marriage that has dissolved. Her husband has left the family for another one, and she has prayed fervently over the last several months that God would change her husband’s heart. His heart has not changed.

She told me last week that she feels that God isn’t listening to her. I kindly responded that perhaps it is she who isn’t listening to God. I don’t believe there is ever a time when God doesn’t hear our prayers, though it certainly can feel that way when we don’t get the answer we are desperate to receive.

When disappointment, illness, tragedy, or hardship comes, do we ever lose our enthusiasm for God? Do we ever feel rejected by him when we don’t get the answers we want?

Proverbs 3 brings us into the heart of the matter. We are not to lean on our own understanding when things happen, but rather trust in the Lord with ALL our heart:

Proverbs 3 (New International Version)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.

Sometimes, God will say “No” to our prayers. 

But remember this: Sometimes God’s “No” is not a rejection, but a redirection.
Sometimes God’s “No” is not a punishment, but a preparation. 
There are times when God’s “No” will bring greater glory to his kingdom. Some “No” responses help us understand the scope of God’s reign as he teaches us to live with the consequences of our actions.
And God’s “No” can even start us on an adventure with him.

One thing is sure … God is more interested in our character than our comfort, and that is often reflected in his response to our prayers.

God even said “No” to Paul when Paul asked for his “thorn to be removed,” and then gave Paul special grace to carry on. And pretty much everything Christians know about grace comes from the letters of Paul.

So can we find comfort in God’s wisdom when he says “No”? Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But we can try to live into God’s grace, knowing that he always works for our good, and always listens to us when we reach out to him. Always.

So in all your discouragement and disappointment, submit to God, and he will make your paths straight.

Straight back into his arms.

The Straight Path by Kathy Schumacher

Not That Kind of King

Posted on by Betsy

If you read these devotionals on a regular basis, you have hopefully noticed that this space is a politics-free sanctuary. Indeed, my intent is to make Scripture approachable and understandable so that readers may form theologically-based opinions about every facet of life. But I have to share something that I heard recently. A friend who was very disappointed in the recent Presidential election commented to me that this election has made her long for the Second Coming of Christ. She then chuckled ruefully and went on to say, “and he better come back by January 19th!” I am sad that she feels that way, but I found it interesting that in her disappointment, her thoughts turned so quickly to the Second Coming. Sometimes the things that stress us the most are the ones that drive us back to God, and that’s never a bad thing.

I am not making light of anyone’s feelings about the election. But truly, all of our attention in every season of life should be focused on the Second Coming. We are citizens of heaven, and a better way of governance will be ours when we enter those gates. Christ the King will reign and all of our inadequate human leaders on every side and in every nation will fade away and become a thing of the past, not to be remembered or revered. Won’t that indeed be a wonderful day? All nations, races, and peoples will gather before one throne and worship the one true king. These present situations are something that just must be endured until then.

John 18 (The Message)

33 Pilate went back into the palace and called for Jesus. He said, “Are you the ‘King of the Jews’?”

34 Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own, or did others tell you this about me?”

35 Pilate said, “Do I look like a Jew? Your people and your high priests turned you over to me. What did you do?”

36 “My kingdom,” said Jesus, “doesn’t consist of what you see around you. If it did, my followers would fight so that I wouldn’t be handed over to the Jews. But I’m not that kind of king, not the world’s kind of king.”

Jesus’ kingdom will look nothing like the kingdoms of this world. His statement that his followers would only “fight for him” if his kingdom was like those of earth is a direct indication that his kingdom will not have warring, fighting, or violence. There is no kingdom on earth that can boast that.

He is not that kind of king.

37 Then Pilate said, “So, are you a king or not?”

Jesus answered, “You tell me. Because I am King, I was born and entered the world so that I could witness to the truth. Everyone who cares for truth, who has any feeling for the truth, recognizes my voice.”

Christ will reign over all the earth in due time. That is the truth. We who care for the truth and have any feeling for the truth recognize the voice of our one true king. And so we wait for righteousness, justice, and peace.

Come, Lord Jesus, come.

Lord, Hasten the Day

Without Flaw

Posted on by Betsy

I am currently writing a women’s retreat for a large church in Alpharetta, Georgia based on the Temple. That was my one-word assignment: write a retreat on the Temple. Let me tell you, this has been the most challenging one yet! But after many, many long hours of research and study (and sweat and tears) it all boils down to one sentence: You are God’s dwelling place in which God lives by his spirit.

This one sentence undoes thousands of years of temple building! Let’s do a brief history lesson on the Tabernacle/Temple thing. In the beginning, God designed a perfect dwelling place in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve but when they sinned, they were expelled. From that point on, fellowship with God was broken and yet somehow, God still desired to dwell with us. As we follow the story from Genesis to Exodus, we see the people wandering in the wilderness after God delivered them from Egypt and Pharaoh’s vicious pursuit. At this point, God made a plan for them to build a mobile tabernacle, a “meeting tent,” so that his presence could go with them everywhere, and gave Moses very specific instructions for building it.

Now let’s fast forward to the Temple. For Jewish people, God’s Temple meant something very specific: it meant the Temple in Jerusalem. The Temple that was built by King Solomon. The Temple that housed the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies. The Temple that was destroyed by the Babylonians, and then rebuilt by Zerubbabel, before being destroyed a second time by the Romans in 70 AD. The Temple which now remains only as a single wall, the Wailing Wall, is still a sacred place for Jewish people. 

Now we move on to the arrival of our Messiah, Jesus. When Jesus came, he completed God’s full plan for the Temple by becoming the temple himself. As high priest, Jesus offers the best and most complete sacrifice at the altar and allows us to be tabernacled with him, becoming the dwelling place ourselves.

Hebrews 9:11-14 (Common English Bible)

11 But Christ has appeared as the high priest of the good things that have happened. He passed through the greater and more perfect meeting tent, which isn’t made by human hands (that is, it’s not a part of this world). 12 He entered the holy of holies once for all by his own blood, not by the blood of goats or calves, securing our deliverance for all time. 13 If the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkled ashes of cows made spiritually contaminated people holy and clean, 14 how much more will the blood of Jesus wash our consciences clean from dead works in order to serve the living God? He offered himself to God through the eternal Spirit as a sacrifice without any flaw.

Paul goes on later to explain the completion of the plan in Ephesians 2:

 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

This is the great charge and challenge for today. As a dwelling place for God, how will you reflect his Spirit to the world in a winsome, inviting way? Do people see enough of God’s Spirit in you that they want to come in and know more? Are you a reflection of his glory and grace?

May we strive to be an open door to others until everyone hears.

(Georgia friends, you are invited to attend this retreat: February 22nd, Midway United Methodist Church, Alpharetta, GA. Registration forms will be available soon on their website.)

Peachtree City UMC

For All the Cracked Pots

Posted on by Betsy

There is an old legend from India about a water bearer who had two large water pots in which he carried water daily from the river to his master. One of the pots was perfect. The other one had a crack in it. The perfect pot always arrived at the master’s quarters perfectly full. The cracked pot was always half empty. Embarrassed and ashamed, the cracked pot said to his carrier one day, ‘Why don’t you get rid of me? I never arrive at the master’s quarters more than half full.’ ‘Ah’, replied the water bearer, ‘you don’t know the full story. Look beside the road where I carry you each day. There are flowers growing that I pick for the master’s table. The flowers only bloom on your side of the road. It is your cracked pot that waters them.”

Isn’t that an inspiring story for all of the cracked pots reading this today???

The marvelous writer Henri Nouwen helped us understand that God can use us in our brokenness to help others who are also broken. He calls us to become “wounded healers,” and encourages us to gather up our pain and come alongside someone who is hurting and offer support and understanding. It is a way of blessing others with the blessing we received when we saw firsthand how God came close to us when we were brokenhearted . God saves us from being crushed by our sorrow, our sin, our confusion, our grief, and our trials.

Psalm 34 (Common English Bible)
15 The Lord’s eyes watch the righteous,
    his ears listen to their cries for help.
16 But the Lord’s face is set against those who do evil,
    to eliminate even the memory of them from the earth.
17 When the righteous cry out, the Lord listens;
    he delivers them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted;
    he saves those whose spirits are crushed.

Have you been broken by something? Do you have a story to tell about God’s goodness in your bad situation? Someone needs to hear your testimony. By being willing to water the flowers God plants along the road, your words could bring healing and blessing to someone who is hurting. Maybe today is the day to allow God to use your brokenness for someone’s good. Don’t delay!

Marsh Flowers by Michelle Robertson

Dark Times

Posted on by Betsy

Sometimes, in moments of frustration and despair, I think that we are living in dark times. The continuing war in the Middle East, the continuing war in Ukraine, the recent devastation of Hurricane Helene and the one on the way this week, the continuing war in our nation over human rights, border issues, the economy, the rule of law, the impending elections … dark times indeed.

Have you ever noticed that it has to be very, very dark in order to see the stars?

I remember a trip we took to the Big Island in Hawaii many years ago. At night, this island’s streetlights shine through very muted yellow lightbulbs so that the space observatory at the top of Mauna Kea can see the stars, planets, and celestial bodies clearly. There is a strict lighting ordinance in effect for all of the homes and businesses on the island that ensures the darkest of skies possible. Mauna Kea has 12 separate nonprofit observatories, which makes this area the most scientifically productive site of astronomy in the world.

When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.

Today’s passage from Luke describes the upheaval that we will experience when Jesus returns. The end times will be marked with changes and disruption in the sun, moon, stars, planets, and other heavenly bodies. It sounds horrific.

Luke 21:25-28, 34-36 (Common English Bible)

25 “There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars. On the earth, there will be dismay among nations in their confusion over the roaring of the sea and surging waves. 26 The planets and other heavenly bodies will be shaken, causing people to faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world. 27 Then they will see the Human One coming on a cloud with power and great splendor. 

28 Now when these things begin to happen, stand up straight and raise your heads, because your redemption is near.”

“RAISE UP YOUR HEADS, because your redemption is drawing near.” Jesus says. Salvation is on the way, not because you can figure a way out, not because you have kept your chin up and your upper lip stiff, not because the fictitious “Universe” will use its non-existent power to reverse your course, but because God is going to act. Our Christian hope does not rest in what we might do, but in what God will do. It is God who acts when we cannot. It is God who saves when we are hopelessly mired in sin and shame. It is God who gives us the victory when we are utterly defeated.

The point of this text, in fact the point of the entire gospel is this: When there is nothing you can do—nothing—God will act on your behalf. When you are out of resources, out of time, out of patience, out of help, out of hope, when the sea is foaming and the tide is about to take you under, when you have nothing left, no defense, nothing to fight back with so shred of hope to grasp onto—that is the time to lift up your head, for when things are darkest, then you can see the stars. 

So what should we do in the meantime, in these dark times? Jesus continues:

34 “Take care that your hearts aren’t dulled by drinking parties, drunkenness, and the anxieties of day-to-day life. Don’t let that day fall upon you unexpectedly, 35 like a trap. It will come upon everyone who lives on the face of the whole earth. 36  Stay alert at all times, praying that you are strong enough to escape everything that is about to happen and to stand before the Human One.” 

Take care of your hearts. Stay alert. Pray for strength. Find a way to be a light in someone’s darkness.

And look up.

Moonrise by Michelle Robertson

Running Toward the Sound

Posted on by Betsy

If there is one thing we know about here on the Outer Banks, it is WIND. We are famous for it. Remember the Wright Brothers? They came here to try out their new-fangled flying machine because our winds are strong and consistent. That’s great for kite flying on Jockey’s Ridge, but not so great for spray painting a baker’s rack, which I once did in my side yard. I ended up with more paint on the grass than the metal.

When the winds hit gale force, we hunker down or leave. That is why I was so amazed this morning to read that in the face of gale force winds on the day of Pentecost, the devout pilgrims in Jerusalem ran toward the sound:

Acts 2 (The Message)

2 1-4 When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.

5-11 There were many Jews staying in Jerusalem just then, devout pilgrims from all over the world. When they heard the sound, they came on the run. Then when they heard, one after another, their own mother tongues being spoken, they were blown away. They couldn’t for the life of them figure out what was going on, and kept saying, “Aren’t these all Galileans? How come we’re hearing them talk in our various mother tongues?

Parthians, Medes, and Elamites;
Visitors from Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia,
    Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia,
    Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene;
Immigrants from Rome, both Jews and proselytes;
Even Cretans and Arabs!

“They’re speaking our languages, describing God’s mighty works!”

In John 15 we read that Jesus prays that his followers might be one. Here again we see that the power of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost united the followers in such a way that their languages could be understood by each other. Unity is a theme in the early church. It is God’s desire for his followers. How are we doing?

12 Their heads were spinning; they couldn’t make head or tail of any of it. They talked back and forth, confused: “What’s going on here?”

13 Others joked, “They’re drunk on cheap wine.”

The cacophony of confusion was so strong, it appeared as though the people were drunk. But Peter explains that it is only nine o’clock in the morning and they haven’t had time to get drunk. Peter has obviously never been to a morning college football game.

But notice that he stands to speak to the confused crowd with bold urgency. When was the last time you spoke for God with bold urgency?

Peter Speaks Up

14-21 That’s when Peter stood up and, backed by the other eleven, spoke out with bold urgency: “Fellow Jews, all of you who are visiting Jerusalem, listen carefully and get this story straight. These people aren’t drunk as some of you suspect. They haven’t had time to get drunk—it’s only nine o’clock in the morning. This is what the prophet Joel announced would happen:

“In the Last Days,” God says,
“I will pour out my Spirit
    on every kind of people:
Your sons will prophesy,
    also your daughters;
Your young men will see visions,
    your old men dream dreams.
When the time comes,
    I’ll pour out my Spirit
On those who serve me, men and women both,
    and they’ll prophesy.
I’ll set wonders in the sky above
    and signs on the earth below,
Blood and fire and billowing smoke,
    the sun turning black and the moon blood-red,
Before the Day of the Lord arrives,
    the Day tremendous and marvelous;
And whoever calls out for help
    to me, God, will be saved.”

This foretelling of what will happen in the end times is chilling. God’s Spirit will be poured out on all kinds of people. Visions, dreams, and prophesies will abound. Wonders in the sky and signs on the earth will be hard to miss, as will the blood, fire, and billowing smoke.

All these things will announce that the Day of the Lord is at hand. It sounds terrifying. Are you ready?

Whoever calls out for help will be saved.

Gaudi Park, Barcelona, Spain

Taming the Tongue

Posted on by Betsy

Yesterday a good friend posted a simple request on Facebook. She asked her friends to stop discussing politics on their feeds. The comments ranged from “You are so right! I hate all the arguing!” to “Freedom of speech.” Wherever you stand on that issue, surely the constant arguing that is happening in our country is wearing us all down.

James had a lot to say about “taming the tongue.”

James 3:13 – 4:3, 7-8a  The Message

13-16 Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn’t wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn’t wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn’t wisdom. It’s the furthest thing from wisdom—it’s animal cunning, devilish plotting. Whenever you’re trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others’ throats.

17-18 Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.

4 1-2 Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it.

2-3 You wouldn’t think of just asking God for it, would you? And why not? Because you know you’d be asking for what you have no right to. You’re spoiled children, each wanting your own way. This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can’t tame a tongue—it’s never been done. 

“You can tame a tiger, but you can’t tame a tongue—it’s never been done.” OUCH!

Think about the last argument you had with your spouse, or consider the enormous political division that exists in our country, and look again: 4 1-2 Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You’re spoiled children, each wanting your own way.

James really tells it like it is, doesn’t he? He insists that it is our own selfish personal desires – what he calls our war within – that create the conflicts in our families and communities and inner selves. Because we want more – more attention, more respect, more power, more authority – our wanting puts us in direct conflicts with our own families, church, community, and country. 

We want to be right. We want to be in control. We want to have our own way.

This is not the way of the followers of Christ, friends. Verse 17 reminds us of the way we are to follow: It begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.

So what can you do to get along with others? Are you gentle and reasonable or are you exercising your right to free speech at the expense of others? Are you contributing to a healthy, robust community that lives right with God, or are you your own island?

God calls us to treat each other with dignity and honor. May we do all in our power to live up to this.

Getting Along by Michelle Robertson

Stuff Stuff

Posted on by Betsy

Yesterday I preached a sermon based on James 3-4. The primary focus was James ‘blunt and almost abrasive call to practice a humble life and stop living in “animal cunning and devilish schemes”. James contends that we are spoiled children, wanting things was can’t have and operating out of our selfish desires to have more and more in our lives that we don’t need. In thinking about that, I did a lot of research about accumulating “stuff.” I learned that in 1960, the first ever self-storage facility was built in Texas. Today there are over 53,000 self-storage facilities, making it a $44.3 billion dollar industry. You read that right, friends. We spend $44.3 billion dollars per year to store all of our extra stuff. As I wade through my own closets full of stuff I don’t need or use, that really hit me hard.

Rev. John Strother, my former DS, posted this caution about gathering up too much stuff on his Facebook page last month. First, we will read Jesus’ parable in Luke 12 in the New International Version: 

And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

Now let’s read it again from the Cotton Patch Bible. The Cotton Patch Bible is a modern translation written in a southern U.S. dialect:

Luke 12 The Cotton Patch Bible 

Then God said to him, “You NITWIT! On this very night all these things are possessing your soul. You don’t own them. They own YOU! And all this stuff you have piled up, whose is it really?…..So the poor rich farmer was struck with the realization that he would continue for the rest of his life in bondage to the things that had enslaved him all along….. “And that’s the way it is”, said Jesus, “with a man who sets his heart on money….and not on God.”

How much stuff do you really need? Like it said in the Cotton Patch Gospel, don’t be a nitwit! Maybe it’s time to let go of the stuff that has a hold over you.

Maybe we can start by clearing out our self-storage units and closets and giving all that stuff away. I bet there is a thrift store in your area that would be able to turn your unused stuff into money they can use for their ministry. In the Outer Banks, we have a young men’s addiction recovery program called Dare Challenge. They operate a thrift store that supports their important work, and they just opened a new women’s center. Think of what a difference your unused stuff could make to places like this!

Then we could take the money we spent on self-storage rental and donate it to good causes in our community like your local food pantries or homeless shelters. Luke’s parable reminds us that it is okay to settle for less.

May we covenant to seek God’s wisdom so that we might live well, live wisely, and live a humble life together. 

Humble Life by Kathy Schumacher

The Last Laugh

Posted on by Betsy

Can there be anything worse than being chastised or rebuked in front of your enemy? Have you ever suffered the embarrassment of having your sin exposed and addressed while people who didn’t like you were looking on? I am reminded of the wonderful children’s book “Harriet The Spy.” Harriet, an aspiring writer, observes people every day on her “spy route” and writes her unfiltered thoughts in a notebook. During a game of tag one day, her notebook is lost and found by her enemies, Marion and Rachel. They expose her writings, and she loses her best friends Sport and Janie. Over the next few chapters we see Harriet deal with the humiliation of exposure and her pain at having her enemies laugh at her plight. Times of correction are hard enough, but to have people watching who are actually enjoying it is a miserable thing.

Micah dealt with exactly that. His prophecy about God’s impending judgment had fallen on the kings’ deaf ears. Both Jotham and Ahaz continued in their idolatrous and adulterous ways, leading the people into corporate sin and shame. Micah felt the sting of both the punishment that is to come, and the nations who will watch and gloat over it. Yet even through it all, his confidence in the Lord’s eventual forgiveness was strong.

Micah 7 (Common English Bible)

Do not rejoice over me, my enemy,
        because when I fall, I will rise;
            if I sit in darkness, the Lord is my light.
9 I must bear the raging of the Lord,
    for I have sinned against him,
        until he decides my case and provides justice for me.
    He will bring me out into the light;
        I will see by means of his righteousness.
10     Then my enemy will see;
        shame will cover her who said to me:
            “Where is the Lord your God?”
    My eyes will see her ruin;
        now she will become something to be trampled,
            like mud in the streets.

This is a beautiful passage of confession and comfort. Israel had sinned and would pay for their apostasy, but God delights in showing mercy to those who are truly penitent. God doesn’t hold on to his anger. God will show Israel faithful love once again, bestowing compassion and love on them. Much more than remorse, or simply feeling sorry for their sins, Micah articulated the deep penitence the nation was offering. He grieved the wrong their sin had done to the Lord, showing that they were not just feeling sorry for themselves, but truly repentant.

18 Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity,
        overlooking the sin of the few remaining for his inheritance?
    He doesn’t hold on to his anger forever;
        he delights in faithful love.
19 He will once again have compassion on us;
        he will tread down our iniquities.
You will hurl all our sins into the depths of the sea.
20 You will provide faithfulness to Jacob, faithful love to Abraham,
        as you swore to our ancestors a long time ago.

To think that God is this forgiving is a stunning thing. That, of course, is the whole reason that God sent his only son to us: So that Jesus can hurl all our sins to the depths of the sea and forget them forever. Our enemies may laugh for a moment, but it is God who gets the last laugh when the people return in confession, repentance, and humility.

Are you struggling with sin or failure? Have you disappointed God? Are your enemies laughing at you behind your back? Count on God’s compassionate, faithful love. He will heal your penitent heart if you let him.

Where Your Sins Are by Michelle Robertson