~ written by Connie Dunmyer
Micah is not a book of the Bible that I often think of or hear about. So in my studies of it, I was surprised at how relevant it seemed. I could’ve heard much of his lament on the evening news. . . “there is no cluster of grapes to eat”, “not one upright person remains”, “everyone lies in wait to shed blood”, “the ruler demands gifts, the judge accepts bribes, the powerful dictate, they all conspire together”, “do not trust a neighbor”, “son dishonors his father, daughter against her mother”, and more.
But Micah then says “as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.”
The world, and even some Christians, trust in money, in food, in spiritual leaders, in the police, in their rulers, in their neighbors, in their families. Not of one of these is bad – except that they are all human in nature.
But the Christ-centered me, needs to stop watching or looking to other people and things for my security. My hope must be in the Lord. I watch in hope – but not just any hope – hope in the Lord . . . and I trust that He will hear me.
Watching in hope – is active, not passive.
It’s expecting.
And it’s a good expectation. When I call to the Lord, and wait for Him, I’m not expecting a beat down. I don’t call out in fear – I call out to Him in trust, and hopeful expectation. I’m stuck, or I’m drowning, or I’m falling. So I am earnestly expecting the arm of God to reach down for me!
He will not hand me a snake. He will not even fling me a rope for me to grab myself. No – our Father reaches down Himself. It is HE that grabs me.
THAT is what I expect – that is what I am looking for – that is what I watch in hope for.
Many years ago, I was a new bride. We had only been married 2 weeks before we set off for Colorado Springs from Ohio to attend Bible College. The very best thing about Colorado Springs is Pike’s Peak and the Cheyenne Mountain chain. We had very little money – so celebrations and days off were spent hiking in those mountains. One of our more treacherous hikes was the 5-mile hike up St. Mary’s Falls. It was exhausting. It was nearly straight up. Then at the falls, it’s wet and slippery, and we are climbing hands and feet to get up the steep side. Of course we were rewarded with amazing views.
We ate our packed lunch of sandwiches, chips and m&m’s. Then it was time to head back down, which seemed like it would be a breeze in comparison. However, it was at this point I learned a very valuable lesson. It’s always easier to climb up than to descend steep places. It’s that whole center-of-gravity thing. At any rate, I slipped. And I was about to slide right off the side of that mountain to certain death. But somehow, Dana grabbed a piece of my shirt just in the nick of time.
So now I'm dangling. There’s no place for me to put my feet, to get any traction. I look up and see that the only thing Dana has hold of is a small tree seedling growing out of the rock. So he has one hand grabbing it, and the other hand grabbing my shirt – which is now coming up off of me, choking me around my neck.
To this day, I don’t know how, but somehow before that shirt came off me entirely and I would've fallen right off that mountain, Dana flung me with all of his strength sideways and over his head, putting me above him on solid, dry rock. (I weighed a lot less back then, thankfully.) He then rolled over and climbed up to me.
Shaking doesn’t begin to describe those initial moments. I cried. We held each other. And then because it started to get dark, we found a different way down. And that was my last excursion up St. Mary’s Falls (though not my last near-death-experience.)
I did not have time to “call”, but when I was “caught” by Dana’s hand, I did not expect that he would simply let me go. Or that he would say, “that was stupid”. Rather, I was “watching in hope” – in eager expectation that somehow, someway, we would be rescued.
When I get tripped up by things in life – whether it’s my own fault, or someone else’s – God is not standing there saying “well, that was stupid”, or “how are you going to get yourself out of that one”. He doesn’t sit on His throne and toss me a rope to pull myself out. Nope. Not my Abba – my Daddy. He will grow a tree out of a rock for me. He will jump into the fray – He will grab me before I fall off the edge. I may be dangling at times – no foothold to be found – BUT HE’S GOT ME!! And I know that there will be a way out. Somehow. Someway.
So I watch . . . today . . . I watch in hope. I wait eagerly for the Lord. For my God will hear me. My God will reach out for me. My God will fling me over his head to that solid rock. And then – maybe the best part – He will stop, hug me, comfort me, dry my tears, hold my shaking body – and then help me find a “better path”.
Psalm 37:23-24
23 The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; 24 though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.
Psalm 40:1-3
1 I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. 2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. 3 He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.
Psalm 91:14-15
14 “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. 15 He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.
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