Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
--- Matthew 6:33 (NRSV)
WE are fortunate that our God has always been in the reconstruction business. In this passage, Micah records God's promise to rebuild Judah after its destruction by invaders is complete. The nation that has strayed from God's commandments and depended on its own wisdom and willful choices now faces ashes and death. God did not protect them from the consequences of their misdeeds. However, God, through Micah, gives a message of hope: after the destruction, God will rebuild.
We are a lot like Judah when we make selfish choices without consulting God. When we do so, we have a propensity to ruin what is good in ourselves, in others, and in our world. When our faith connection to God is broken, our perspective, like Judah's, becomes very different from God's perspective. We can make wealth and possessions into gods; we value things that God does not value. Eventually, unable to heal and restore ourselves, we turn to God, who loves us and begins the process of rebuilding our broken lives. God is good at rebuilding.
Lord God, strengthen us so that we may avoid the temptation to follow our own desires instead of your will. When we fail and consequences come, we ask that you heal our brokenness and restore us to spiritual health. Thank you for being a God of reconstruction. Amen.
