"I will surely assemble all of you, Jacob, I will surely gather the remnant of Israel. I will put them together like sheep in the fold; Like a flock in the midst of its pasture They will be noisy with men." - Micah 2:12
The Elcott commentary puts it this way about today's Bible verse, "With a characteristic abruptness Micah turns from the height of sin and punishment to the height of the deliverance... Israel and the remnant shall be gathered together as a goodly flock in the luxuriant pastures...The return from captivity symbolized the eventual restoration of the people of God into His everlasting kingdom."
With similar words, I'd put it this way about today's Bible verse, "With the snap of his fingers, God can turn a really bad situation into a really good one...everyone who trusts the Lord will be gathered together...such a turn around and gathering symbolizes God bringing everyone who trusts Him into His everlasting kingdom and feast."
Sounds good! But what does that even look like?
Maybe this story will help. (I've changed the prisoner's name in this true story.)
Last week, I met a total stranger in the lobby of the jail that my wife, Amanda, and I had gone to serve. The person we met had been beaten up by her son, who in serving our country in Iraq has come to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. The mom was there because her son was being released for her to take to the VA. His name, she said, was Tom Post. We swapped phone numbers, and Amanda and I invited her to church and fellowship.
Well, as my wife and the women went to serve on the women's floor, the jailers led us six men to one of the multiple men's floors; we had no choice in the matter.
Apparently God did.
Apparently God did have a choice in the matter because after the jailer chose the floor, then one of our men kinda said "eenie, meenie, miney, moe" and chose the blue, non-violent offenders side of that floor instead of the green, violent offenders. Then my partner, Roderick, randomly picked one of the five blocks on the blue side for us to enter for Bible study. When we entered the block, God first spoke to the prisoners for 40 minutes through Rod and then for 10 minutes through me. All of a sudden a jailer came in and asked for someone to get their stuff to leave. Well this taaaaall guy moves to go up to get his stuff but turns and looks at me and steps to me, so I moved toward him. He thanked me for what I said, saying it changed his life. I asked his name...Tom Post!!!
Hmmmmm!
Like I said earlier about today's Bible verse, "With the snap of his fingers, God can turn a really bad situation into a really good one...everyone who trusts the Lord will be gathered together...such a turn around and gathering symbolizes God bringing everyone who trusts Him into His everlasting kingdom and feast."
What's in front of you today? No matter how it goes at first, expect God to do great things for you, to turn bad things into good in the snap of a finger, and to bring you together with the right people you need.
Your job is to believe!
Praise God!
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