Has God Stepped Away?
“Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.” Micah 7:18-20
May 14th was a day of drama, suspense, and mystery in the tiny town of Dacula, GA. A 78 year old widow woke up that morning as usual, and as she glanced out the window into her front yard, her view was met with shock and surprise: her prized possession – a powder blue 1979 Chevy van, which belonged to her late husband – was missing.
It had simply vanished. She called the police to report the mishap and explained that the van was inoperative yet had been parked in the front yard for quite a while. She was heartbroken and confused. How could something so precious and large just vanish?
Later that day she telephoned the police to report that the van had been located after all. An officer visited her home and was eager to hear her explanation. The van was parked in the exact location it had been for the past several years – only the grass and weeds in her yard had grown so tall that the van was covered over and hidden from her sight.
Her prized possession was hidden in plain sight. The high drama and mystery of Dacula was resolved after all.
In the course of our ordinary days and routines and lives, at times we can wake up and feel as if God is hidden from us. We feel that He has been lost; we can feel abandoned, heartbroken, and confused. It seems that He has vanished from sight, from our experience, from our everyday lives – when, in reality, He has not moved at all. His presence is merely blocked by weeds and overgrowth hiding the reality of who He is and how present He really is. Sometimes God feels hidden in plain view!
God sent the prophet Micah to His people because their view of God was becoming blocked by the overgrowth of busyness, hurts, disappointments, sins, and ordinary concerns and responsibilities. Micah’s task was to remove the weeds of normal life and restore the felt presence of God in His people’s ordinary lives in order to increase their wonder at who God is and what He has done for His people. By placing a magnifying glass upon the character of God and works of God, Micah aimed at helping God’s people see, once again, how precious, present, and powerful God truly is.
Perhaps, today, as you have your sight restored and the weeds of busyness and hurt laid aside by God’s grace, you will agree with the people of God who listened to Micah’s message and shouted in response, “Who is a God like you, pardoning sin and passing over transgressions . . . you will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea . . .”
May God give you the eyes to see Him in the ordinary details of your life today. He is here – not hidden. He is present and gracious – no matter what you feel.