As For Me

Swimming upstream can’t be very fun for a fish.  It requires much more effort and determination than to simply go with the flow and be carried along by the current. Salmon swim upstream each year, even jumping up waterfalls, to get to their spawning grounds.  Going against the wind is a difficult propspect as well.  When all is pushing in the opposite direction, the will to continue against the flow has to be resolute and settled in the mind of the traveler.

In his short book, the Minor Prophet Micah used this phrase twice: “But as for me.”  He was signaling to everyone that he had made up his mind and was personally determined in the direction he had chosen and in his reasons for choosing it.

The first time he said it was in 3:8 after he spoke out against political and judicial corruption as well as religious wrongdoing and self-centered misdirection by false prophets.   In the midst of a wayward and polluted culture all around him, Micah declared his intentions clearly: “But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.”  No matter what the winds of societal or political change might bring or how strong the rebellious current may flow, Micah had made up his mind and set his face toward God and His ways.

The second time he said it was in 7:7 after decrying how far God’s people had fallen away from Him.  Everything had collapsed upon itself in selfish ambition that wounded the needy and made it impossible to trust another person’s intention or to take them at their word.  Even the best of the people were more like a brier than a fruit-producing vine.  It was a fearful time to be alive.  Yet Micah declared, “But as for me, I will look to the Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation, my God will hear me.”

What an amazing declaration of persistent faith no matter how the winds of change were blowing around him.  His determined faith in his saving God who hears the cry of those who earnestly seek Him inspires us today to seek that same God through our Eternal Savior Jesus Christ no matter what the times may bring.  But it takes guts and a resolved spirit to say it and mean it.  Like that fish swimming upstream, it will require more from us than just going with the flow might.  But the reward is salvation from the God who hears us when we cry.  The determined and focused spiritual effort is worth it and is what we need as lights in the world through Christ today.

So let’s make up our minds with God’s help and get going!