Heralds Digest

"Then they will cry to the Lord, But He will not hear them; He will even hide His face from them at that time, Because they have been evil in their deeds". (Micah 3:4 NKJV) Wickedness is nothing other than the evil coloration of the goodness of God. Being created in the image of God, man is designed good - a reflection of the goodness of God. However, the desire to create its own goodness is a deception sold to man by the enemy. Confidence in the Lord promotes satisfaction in the goodness within, and the reflection of the same goodness to others. Otherwise, wickedness is promoted in every attempt to convert the good fortunes of others for self gratification. Therefore, true goodness is gracious; being not the goodness received from others, but reflected to others.

"The one who breaks open will come up before them; They will break out, Pass through the gate, And go out by it; Their king will pass before them, With the Lord at their head.” (Micah 2:13 NKJV) Irrespective of the level of its facelift or beatification, the grave remains the abode of the dead. Living in the grave is synonymous to abiding in the cage of spiritual recklessness, financial impropriety, health failure, emotional imbalance, etc. And only a walking corpse will see no difference in the lifestyle within and outside the grave. However, the One who breaks open the grave is Jesus; and His power still command immediate attention within the camp of the enemy. He gives power to all His redeemed to speak to their graves and they get opened.

“Arise and depart, For this is not your rest; Because it is defiled, it shall destroy, Yes, with utter destruction". (Micah 2:10 NKJV) Recognition granted by uncanny people to ill-gotten wealth, sexual immorality and unlawful possession of other people's properties is often mistaken as desirable pleasure. But the scripture says it is an unpleasant luxury - dangerous and defiled. As always, the invitation to evil practices starts with a glamorous presentation of the forbidden fruit in the heart of man, through a window-shopping adventure of the eyes. But as prophet Micah's warning to God's people goes, "Arise and depart". Walking out of an evil party with disrespect is better than waiting in a cold furnace for utter destruction. No one can find a free rest on a defiled bed.

"All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces, And all her pay as a harlot shall be burned with the fire; All her idols I will lay desolate, For she gathered it from the pay of a harlot, And they shall return to the pay of a harlot”. (Micah 1:7 NKJV) The pleasure derivable from sexual immorality is an attractive prey that draw the heart of man to the altar of idolatry. The pay appears a real offer of satisfaction before the act, until the hook behind the prey exposes the ugly wound of a slit-ted throat after the act. Sexual images may be attractive to the eyes; they are destructive to the soul. A wise man understands the openness of the eyes as the window to his heart; and even in unsolicited online advertisement, he readily allow the eyelid to shut the window against sexual seduction.

"The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills. To the Chief Musician. With my stringed instruments." (Habakkuk 3:19 NKJV) The embodiment of creation represents the complete work of the Lord God; but man is a special subset of this work, that was created for divine purpose. Realizing that God's work is good (like prophet Habakkuk did), it is normal to be disturbed or query the chaotic representation of the current state of world's affairs. The only abnormality is the possible failure of man in recognizing the sufficiency of divine assistance toward achieving divine purpose, even in the wilderness of life. In the midst of our failed expectations, God's expositions are just sufficient. Therefore, greater heights await only those who rest solely on divine assistance.

“But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him.” (Habakkuk 2:20 NKJV) Silence of God, while evil appears to prevail in life's situations and circumstances, is often misconstrued as loss of sovereignty. During this period, the proud are free to brag about the sophistication of wickedness and the joy of transient superiority. Unknowingly to all impostors, quietness is more of a virtue than a weakness. When the Creator of heaven and earth resides in heart of a man, the man possesses the power to freely stay silent. Unless the wicked learn to admit the superiority of free silence, he accepts the risk of forced silence.

"For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry". (Habakkuk 2:3 NKJV) The biggest challenge with the promises that represent the agenda of God to anyone that wait for Him is that there is often no definite execution time attached. However, God's agenda is not subject to human economy and any government policy. The performance of God's promises is mostly relied on the faith of the beneficiary. Unlike prophet Habakkuk, many people find it difficult to manage the frustration of waiting on the same God, who promised, for the performance of His promises. Except man's agenda is focused on constant revision of God's promises, it will be impossible to prevent shifting away from God's agenda.