When there’s no one else we can count on

When trust has been broken, it can be hard to restore. Just ask anyone whose spouse has cheated on them.

Sometimes, when trust has been broken, it’s hard to trust anyone. We start to wonder if there’s anyone in this world we can count on.

That’s how Micah must’ve felt. He was in a land filled with violence and injustice. He was in a place where it was hard to trust anyone.

You couldn’t trust the leaders and the judges because they weren’t interested in justice. They were only interested in bribes.

And the corruption had seemingly dripped down to the entire population. Micah said,

The godly have been swept from the land; not one upright man remains….

The best of them is like a brier, the most upright, worse than a thorn hedge. (Micah 7:2, 4)

Micah then adds,

Do not trust a neighbor; put no confidence in a friend. Even with her who lies in your embrace be careful of your words.

For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises up against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—a man’s enemies are the members of his own household. (Micah 7:5–6)

Pretty depressing words. But in the land where Micah lived, with all the corruption he saw, that’s how he felt.

And sometimes, we feel that way too. We wonder who we can trust.

But there is someone we can trust. Micah wrote,

But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me. (Micah 7:7)

Though everyone else may fail us, God will not. Though everyone may turn their backs on us, God will never forsake us. And though everyone else may betray us, God will ever be faithful to us.

He sees. He hears. He knows. So let us watch in hope for him, waiting for him,

because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5–6)