#140. Micah: When Life Doesn't Turn Out How We Hope or Expect, How Do We Keep Loving Well?

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This is The Dwelling Place from Entrusted Ministries.

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I'm Stephanie Hickox, and

today we're meditating upon

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the words of the prophet Micah.

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In full disclosure, the Lord

has used this book to wreck me.

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Because it's so personal, it

might be best for mom years alone

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Micah wrote at the same time as Isaiah.

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He also lived in Judah, Not in Jerusalem,

but westward in the area of Gath.

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His name means, "Who is like the Lord?"

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which indicates he probably had

parents that were faithful to Yahweh

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Keep this meaning in mind for

when we reach the end of the book.

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Micah's message is similar to other

prophets as he says The Lord longs

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to be worshiped with a pure heart,

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and that

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Speaker 86: Should transform

how you treat others

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Speaker 9: I like how

simply Daniel Green says it.

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The purpose of the book is to demonstrate

that true faith results in social

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justice and practical holiness with

a view toward the ultimate reign of

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Messiah on the earth There are three

main portions of the Book of Micah,

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and they all begin with the word hear.

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The first section tells

us judgment will come.

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The next portion, blessing will

follow, and finally, the blessing

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will surpass the judgment.

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Like several other prophets, Micah

employs courtroom terminology, and

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the Lord uses him to condemn unjust

practices the nations have committed

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Included in that would be seizing

fields unlawfully, stealing, exploiting

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children and women, leadership

that is corrupt, unethical business

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practices, violence and bribery

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the book begins

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The word of the Lord that came to Micah

of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz,

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and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he

saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

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Hear you peoples, all of you.

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Pay attention, O earth, and all

that is in it, and let the Lord

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God be a witness against you,

the Lord from his holy temple.

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For behold, the Lord is coming out of

his place, and he will come down and

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tread upon the high places of the earth.

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Jerusalem was the head of Judah,

and Samaria the head of Israel.

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He's speaking to both nations

and warns God will come to

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defeat the high places Amen.

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Right?

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Chapter two begins, " Woe to

those who devise wickedness

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and work evil on their beds.

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When the morning dawns, they perform it,

because it is in the power of their hand.

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They covet fields and seize them,

and houses, and take them away.

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They oppress a man and his

house, a man and his inheritance.

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Therefore thus says the

Lord, " Behold, against this

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family I am devising disaster."

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God rebukes those who plot wickedness

and are set on evil But in contrast,

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I love what chapter two, verse

seven says, " Do not my words do

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good to him who walks uprightly?"

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And at the end of the chapter,

the tender shepherd emerges.

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" I will surely assemble

all of you, O Jacob.

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I will gather the remnant of Israel.

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I will set them together like sheep

in a fold, like a flock in its

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pasture, a noisy multitude of men."

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Chapter 3 is the beginning of section

two, announcing the judgment of the Lord.

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And I said, "Hear you, heads of Jacob,

and rulers of the house of Israel.

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Is it not for you to know justice?

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You who hate the good and love the evil,

who tear the skin from off my people

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and their flesh from off their bones,

who eat the flesh of my people and flay

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their skin from off them, and break their

bones in pieces, and chop them up like

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meat in a pot, like flesh in a cauldron.

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Then they will cry to the Lord,

but he will not answer them.

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He will hide his face from

them at that time because they

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have made their deeds evil."

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In verse eight, Micah writes, " But

as for me, I am filled with power,

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with the Spirit of the Lord and with

justice and might to declare to Jacob

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his transgression and to Israel his sin.

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Hear this, you heads of the house of

Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel

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who detest justice and make crooked

all that is right, who build Zion with

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blood and Jerusalem with iniquity.

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Its heads give judgment For a bribe,

its priests teach for a price.

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Its prophets practice divination for

money, yet they lean on the Lord and

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say, "Is not the Lord in the midst of us?

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No disaster shall come upon us."

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Therefore, because of you, Zion

shall be plowed as a field.

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Jerusalem shall become a heap

of ruins, and the mountain

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of the house a wooded height.

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But even after these words of judgment,

Micah offers words of hope beginning

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in chapter four, telling us that at

one day, people from every nation will

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say, "Come, let us go to the mountain

of the Lord, to the house of the God

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of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways

and that we may walk in his paths."

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And just like Amos, we're told that

there will not be war anymore And

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nation will not rise against nation

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" In that day," declares the Lord, " I

will assemble the lame and gather

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those who have been driven away,

and those whom I have afflicted.

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And the lame I will make the remnant, and

those who were cast off a strong nation.

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And the Lord will reign over

them in Mount Zion from this

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time forth and forevermore."

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Next we read a verse that would've been

extremely surprising to the audience

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4:10 says, " You shall go to Babylon.

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There you shall be rescued, for

the Lord will redeem you from

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the hand of all your enemies."

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At this point, Assyria was the enemy they

feared, and Babylon was somewhat weak.

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When Micah says they'll be rescued

from Babylon, it would have been

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an odd prophecy for them to hear,

but we know it would come to pass

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In chapter five, verse two,

we read another messianic

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prophecy that also came to pass

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But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,

who are too little to be among the

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clans of Judah, from you shall come

forth for me one who is to be ruler

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in Israel, whose coming forth is

from of old, from ancient of days.

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And verse four, " And he shall

stand and shepherd his flock in

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the strength of the Lord, in the

majesty of the name the Lord his God.

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And they shall dwell secure, for now

he shall be great to the ends of the

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earth, and he shall be their peace."

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About 800 years after this prophecy

was written, the Lord would use a

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political census to cause a virgin

girl and her faith-filled husband

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to travel 100 miles so this prophecy

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might be made true, and the

newborn king would be worshiped.

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And speaking of kings, we've talked

about how Deuteronomy 17 condemned the

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accumulation of several things for kings.

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and in chapter five, verse 10, we

read that the Lord will cut off the

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nation's reliance on earthly things.

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" And in that day," declares the Lord, " I

will cut off your horses from among you

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and will destroy your chariots, and I

will cut off the cities of your land and

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throw down all your strongholds, and I

will cut off sorceries from your land,

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And you shall have no more tellers of

fortunes, and I will cut off your carved

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images and your pillars from among you."

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and you shall bow down no

more to the work of your hands

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Hallelujah, right?

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When we read scripture chronologically,

we might be tempted to think, "God,

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why didn't you do it earlier?"

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He has been so patient

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And we can understand his continued

indictment in chapter six.

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Hear what the Lord says, " Arise,

plead your case before the mountains,

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and let the hills hear your voice.

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Hear you mountains the indictment

of the Lord, and you enduring

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foundations of the earth.

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For the Lord has an indictment against his

people, and he will contend with Israel."

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O my people, what have I done to you?

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How have I wearied you?

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Answer me.

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For I brought you up from the land

of Egypt and redeemed you from

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the house of slavery, and I sent

before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

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That you may know the

righteous acts of the Lord?

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With what shall I come before the Lord

and bow myself before God on high?

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Shall I come before him with burnt

offerings, with calves a year old?

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Will the Lord be pleased with thousands

of rams, with 10,000 of rivers of oil?

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Shall I give my firstborn for

my transgression, the fruit of

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my body for the sin of my soul?

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God reminds them, " look

at all I've done for you.

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And do you think that you can

please me like you please these

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despicable idols like Molech,

sacrificing your children to them?"

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And this is the context in which God

tells them what is truly required.

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" He has told you, O man, what is good

and what does the Lord require of you,

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but to do justice and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God."

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It again reminds us that our love of God

must be shown in how we treat others.

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We'll come back to this

convicting verse in a moment

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Chapter Seven

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Verses eight through 20

are Israel personified,

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and Micah tells them

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God will rescue you because of

His character and His promises

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I told you to keep in mind

what the name Micah means.

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It's who is like Yahweh

or who is like the Lord.

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And the concluding section of this

book is a play on those words as it

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begins, " Who is a God like you?

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Pardoning iniquity and passing

over transgression for the

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remnant of his inheritance.

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He does not retain his anger forever

because he delights in steadfast love.

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He will again have compassion on us.

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He will tread our iniquities underfoot.

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You will cast all our sins

into the depths of the sea.

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You will show faithfulness to Jacob and

steadfast love to Abraham, as you have

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shown to our fathers from the days of

old In the midst of all this judgment,

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Micah points to a God who forgives sin.

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He has compassion on us and

is faithful to His promises,

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delighting to show His love to us.

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And now I'd like to make it a little

bit more personal because though my

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circumstances may be unique, I know

there's a struggle I have that many other

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women also endure I wanna be clear that I

am not speaking to circumstances of abuse

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but rather situations of hurt,

rejection, and disappointment

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I've shared before that my husband

was diagnosed with MS eight years ago.

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But really, as I look back, I

can see that his symptoms began

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right after we got married.

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For years, I've sought the wisdom of many

counselors, pastors, and wise friends.

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It seems that no one can tell me how

to be married and raise four young

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kids with a man with brain damage.

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It's a daily struggle and affects our

marriage and our family on every level

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Add to this absence the fact

that shortly after I got married,

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my father passed away, then my

father-in-law, and then my mom got

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engaged to a man who also passed away.

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The Lord has allowed every man I

could look to for wisdom, protection,

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and provision to be taken away.

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But in His goodness,

I've had to look to Him.

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What my family requires of me is often

exhausting, overwhelming, and daunting,

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and every time I try to invite my husband

into the process of carrying the burden

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with me, I'm reminded he can't What makes

it more complicated is that there are

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many times I can't looks like I won't,

and I'll never know for sure what are

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choices and what are a lack of capability?

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And if you know our story, you know that

I didn't marry him because I thought he

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was the most charming, dashing man alive.

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I married him because he was the man I

thought would run after Jesus with me.

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There were clear differences in our

personalities and our interests,

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but we had a mutual respect for

each other's walks with the Lord and

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felt called to serve Him together

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As I continue to walk through the changes

in this person I thought was going to be

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my partner in the marathon, it's brought

a lot of deep disappointment and hurt.

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The man who planned the most complicated

proposal I've ever heard is now a man

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who can hardly remember my birthday.

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My requests are rarely remembered

or understood, and part of me

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is tempted to just keep running

after the Lord full speed

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But the Lord has convicted me that

I'm also to help my husband become

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the man he couldn't be without me It

reminds me of a friend whose husband

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has a ministry where they run races

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pushing wheelchairs of those

who have special needs.

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I'm astounded that people feel led to

not only push their own body past the

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finish line, but also someone else's.

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But it's the picture I have in my

marriage right now, that God has

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called me to not just get myself

and my kids past the finish line

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but to help my husband reach it as well.

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Even though I thought pursuing Christ as

a family would look entirely different,

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I'm realizing that the pushing of

this imaginary chair is taking up my

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cross, and the Lord is requiring me to

become more like Him in a way that I

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certainly didn't want, expect, or plan.

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But it doesn't take God by surprise.

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He knew this is what He had

planned for my family and when I've

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sought Him for how to endure well,

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Speaker 86: this is the

verse He keeps bringing

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Speaker 9: Me back to.

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Micah 6:8.

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" He has told you, O man, what is good,

and what does the Lord require of you

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but to do justice and to love kindness

and to walk humbly with your God?"

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He has allowed a circumstance in my life

that is impossible to do without Him.

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I must walk humbly with my God

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for a long time, I was meditating

on the fact that God was calling me

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to do kindness But recently when I

went back to study it, I realized

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it doesn't say to do kindness.

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This is not a checklist.

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It says to love kindness.

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This is a whole nother level

of me becoming like Christ.

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Loving kindness or loving mercy, as

some translations say, is entirely

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different than acting out of kindness

or mercy When my husband forgets

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something so important to me yet

again, do I love to show him mercy?

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I don't.

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I am so far from my Savior.

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And this circumstance, if I can walk

humbly with my God, is going to be what

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makes me look more and more like Him

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on the days when it feels beyond me

to accomplish this, I'm reminded of

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Matthew 25, " Whatever you do unto

the least of these, you do unto me."

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And echoing that sentiment, an entrusted

Betsy says, " Love is what you do for

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those who can do nothing in return."

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When I'm tempted

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To think I'm just pushing my

husband in that invisible wheelchair

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it helps me to be reminded I'm

pushing my Savior, and hopefully

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I'm setting an example for my

kids that this is not about me.

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It's not just about my

comfort and my happiness,

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But I'm reminded of Romans 5:5 which says,

" And hope does not put us to shame because

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He has poured out His love upon us."

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Other translations say, " And

hope does not disappoint us."

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I believe the Lord is going to use

my transformation journey to bring

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Him glory, and that I'm not gonna

be disappointed or ashamed by it

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In thinking about all of this,

I did something kind of silly.

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I'm pretty cautious about my AI usage,

but I uploaded a picture of my husband

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and asked it to morph this with

an image of Jesus from The Chosen.

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It took a couple iterations, but

once complete, I printed out a copy

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to remind me that what I do unto

my husband, I'm doing unto the Lord

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Maybe you're loving a husband that's

very different from the man you married.

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Maybe a child going through rebellion,

or maybe it's loving the lost that

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reject you as they reject Christ.

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Whatever you do to the least

of these, you do unto the Lord

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We have an opportunity to live out exactly

what Micah said, that our love for the

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Lord can transform our love for people.

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I am wrecked by this, the fact that I can

love my Savior so deeply and yet struggle

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so intensely to love well in my own heart.

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I'm thankful for the God who has walked

in complete patience with me Who is

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like this God who pardons iniquity

and passes over transgressions, that

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does not retain His anger forever,

but delights in steadfast love?

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He has compassion on us, and He casts

our sin into the depths of the sea.

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And it's this God, and through His

strength, that I will live for each day

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Heavenly Father, we thank you that

you see to the inward parts and that

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our outward acts are not enough.

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You long for purity in the inward places.

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We confess the times that we don't

walk in love, that we long for our

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comfort and our joy over our holiness

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you are a savior that humbly took on the

role of a servant And I pray that you

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will give us the capacity to honor you

in this way, that we would love those

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you've placed in our path even when it's

difficult, exhausting, or feels fruitless

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Thank you that you see us in this, that

your Holy Spirit enables us, and that

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you're honored by it And we pray for

something that only you could do, that

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as our kids watch us love others in a way

they do not deserve that it would not turn

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them away from carrying their own crosses,

but that they would be drawn to also

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laying down their lives for Your glory

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We know only you can make the

sacrifices of the kingdom seem

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worth it to them, And we trust

you for that fruit in their lives.

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We pray for miracles and

testimonies and yet for patience

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when you have a better plan.

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Thank you, Jesus, that

you're coming for your bride.

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We love you.

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Amen