Nothing Left

"'What do you mean what's the matter?' Micah replied. 'You've taken away all the gods I have made, and my priest, and I have nothing left!" Judges 17, 18

Unaware of some purchases that my wife had made earlier in the day, I didn't even hesitate to use my debit card at the checkout line. However, our bank was fully aware of all those purchases as well as the one I was attempting to make at the present moment. Clearly, the math didn't add up. Something from nothing is something less than nothing and that, as it turns, is frowned upon by our aforementioned bank. In short, the bank told the merchant there was nothing left and the merchant told me, "Declined."

Micah was one panicked individual. His personal little self-directed and self-centered religion was coming apart at the seams. He had idols. He had priests. He had a shrine and even a sacred ephod (a priestly garment). All this, he thought, secured the LORD's blessing. When the warriors from the tribe of Dan came and took everything, he went hysterical. Every self-created tangible expression of his hope was gone leading him to tragically conclude that he had nothing left.  

There's a great deal of fear in our world today. Perhaps, you find some lurking in your heart as well. Micah's extreme example reveals one of its greatest sources -- misplaced hope. What do we do when every source of "truth" lies, when our human institutions fail, when our personal resources are plundered and our personal relationships are fractured? What's left when our carefully created constructs of reality crumble? Fear. Fear then leads to anger, truckloads of anger. Into this reality, Jesus speaks, "Come to me all of you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest."