God in pursuit of fulfilling His will our lives may not look as beautiful as how we want it to be. The story is told of the Israelites in Micah 5:2-5 that a Messiah would come to rule over them and be their peace. However, verse 1-3 indicates that the Israelites would be in captivity before that would happen. They were disobedient to God and this was a consequence for their sin. Micah also prophesied that “He (Yahweh) would abandon them until the time when she who is in labour has given birth” (verse 3).

God?! Not present?! This seems to be contrary to His nature. If we look closely, we see that He has not left Israel. He was still intervening on their behalf by setting up plans to redeem them from captivity.

Understandably, the Israelites might have felt rejected, depressed and hopeless during that “period of silence”. What were they to do now? Wait and hope. Though a time frame was not given, guarantees were. He gave them promises, indications of who was to come and what He would do.  The promises of God are so steady, earthquakes cannot tear down these structures, hurricanes cannot blow them away.

In life, we have various mandates. We travel on this journey and we are Gaza-boxed by many issues, therefore questioning the validity of God’s presence, or even existence. The “silence of God” seems louder than the end game. But if God is true, if God is trustworthy, if God’s promises are sure, believe them. In fact, believe God. In the days of Micah, He came to the Israelites rescue. We are not exempt from His redemption either. He still is a present help in the time of trouble (Ps. 46:1).

Therefore, wait and hope in God to fulfill His plans in your lives. Like Habbakuk, use this time to praise Him, and rejoice in the God of your salvation, even when circumstances are bleak (Hab. 3:17-19). He will make us better and give us the strength to see His promises fulfilled, either in this life, or the next.