As human beings, we can withstand great physical and circumstantial difficulties, but when we lose hope even small problems can seem insurmountable. How do we find hope and learn to trust God when we have lost hope and the pressure seems too much to bear?
Also, how should we respond when someone speaks to us in unbiblical ways or threatens us foolishly? What can we learn from Jesus’ responses to Pilate?
And from our Old Testament reading:
Even though God is love, He is also the righteous Judge of the universe. In His mercy, He gives people many opportunities to repent and change, but He does eventually judge evil. Such was the case with Ahab and Jezebel. Ahab died in battle but his wicked wife Jezebel’s death was especially gruesome.
In the Prophet Micah’s day, most of the people had placed their hope in the wrong things. They had rejected the warnings of God’s prophets, choosing to listen to false prophets instead. Those false prophets merely told them what they wanted to hear and failed to call them to repentance for their sinful behavior.
That kind of deception is one of the devil’s oldest tricks. It started with his deception of Eve in the Garden. But deception leads only to despair when people realize their hope was placed in the wrong thing.
Today many are deceived into believing lies about human sexuality, God’s character, how He works through our trials, the reality of God’s discipline and judgment, and many other false belief systems. Each of us needs to be sure those things in which we place our hope are firmly grounded in God’s truth.
And in our New Testament reading …
In Revelation 9 the fifth and sixth trumpets sound! The fifth releases swarming locust-like demons with tails like scorpions. They will attack those who do not have the seal of God. Their stings will leave people begging to die, but not even able to commit suicide. And the sixth is even worse.
