It can hardly be said that the world is getting better and better. Violent crime is on the increase; morals are in decline. Prisons are overflowing with inmates, abortion clinics are running a record-breaking business, homes are falling apart at the brisk rate of one every twenty-seven seconds, drug lords hold the world in their grip, sexually transmitted diseases have arrived at epidemic proportions with a sure killer at the top of the list: AIDS. Is there any hope for this messed-up world?

Micah felt his society was doomed. He felt like a migrant worker moving among barren branches (Micah 7:1). The only grapes were the grapes of God's wrath. The prophet lamented the decline in morals. He concluded that "not one upright man remains. All men lie in wait to shed blood" (v. 2).

Deception in government was evident in both the executive and; judicial branches (vv. 3-4). Worst of all, the disintegration in the home caused the prophet to exclaim, "man's enemies are the members of his own household" (vv. 5-6). It almost sounds as if Micah wrote this book yesterday.

In spite of the corrupt society in which he lived, Micah wisely declared, "I wait in hope for God my Savior" (v. 7). The prophet knew that his confession would result in God's gracious restoration and redemption (vv. 9-20). Micah wrote, "Who is a God like You, who pardons sin" (v. 18), who casts our sins "into the depths of the sea?" (v. 19) Micah was definitely different; he was counterculture.

Pray that you can be noticeably different from those around you who seem to float with the cultural current. Be one who swims upstream. Be one of God's counter-cultural agents of light and blessing.

Author: J. Ronald Blue