The backstory on Micah
Did you know the Book of Micah has an example of what it means to work empowered by the Holy Spirit?
Micah ministered between 740 and 700 B.C., during the reigns of kings of Judah — Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Micah came from a small agricultural village Moresheth-Gath in the Judean foothills.
Micah’s calling is a bit of a mystery. Unlike Moses or Isaiah, we are not told how the Lord called Micah. The Bible simply says, “The word of the Lord that came to Micah…” Micah 1:1.
Micah’s calling
Sometimes callings just “come.” There is no warning. No burning bush. No voice. Just an overwhelming sense of what needs to be done.
Unlike other prophets, Micah spent relatively little time attacking pagan worship. Instead, he repeatedly challenged corrupt political leaders, dishonest business practices, judges who accepted bribes, priests who taught for money, and wealthy landowners who seized property from poor families.
In essence, Micah was a country boy who spoke truth to power, and that can be dangerous.
God empowered Micah to fulfill his calling
It should not be surprising then that what Micah needed to complete his calling was power and courage. And that brings us to the point of this blog post: how God empowered Micah to speak truth to power. And that is revealed when Micah is talking about his work as a prophet to Israel and he says:
On the other hand I am filled with power
With the Spirit of the Lord
And with justice and courage
To make known to Jacob his rebellious act,
Even to Israel his sin.
To do the work of a prophet in the circumstances, in which Micah was called, he needed to speak truth to those in authority. The Lord gave him power. He needed to speak to the wealthy about how they had oppressed the poor, and the Lord gave him a desire for justice. He needed to speak these things to powerful people who might kill him in retaliation, and God gave him courage.
Micah must have really felt it too. I don’t sense from reading the passage above that Micah was speaking abstractly. He was describing what he could feel had been given him to perform his assigned task: power, a sense of justice, and courage.
It can happen for you in your work
The principle we see in Micah’s story is equally applicable to the Christian businessman or businesswoman today. It is not to limited pastors, prophets, and those in the ministry.
The Apostle Paul’s declaration, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13), was made in the context of his being able to endure in times of need. It was not about being empowered to minister.
One of my mentors used to say that God pays for what He orders, meaning He provides financially for what he calls us to do. I think it is also accurate to say God empowers what He inspires.
He did it with Micah, and He can do it with you and me. GS
