LIFE VERSES: Micah 7:7 (2022-2023)

We’ve finally made it to my first life verse fully associated with a word of the year, expectation. The irony being that right after choosing that word and this verse I had my heart broken and was criticized for having “too many expectations”. I can laugh about that now. The Lord was not playing when He promised to teach me something in 2023. 

When I look for a verse to go along with my word of the year, I often go through several translations to see how it’s interpreted because English isn’t the greatest at getting everything across and this year I knew I had to go with the Amplified Bible because it encompassed everything I believe of God and everything I was praying to experience that year. 

“But as for me, I will look expectantly for the LORD and with confidence in Him I will keep watch; I will wait [with confident expectation] for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.”

This is why I love this verse and this translation so very much and why it is currently taped to my desk in neon pink!

“But as for me…” 

It sounds like a declaration to someone, much like the “But as for me and my house” of Joshua 24:15. Almost a, “You do you but I know the road I’m taking!” That’s how I feel when I think of the expectations I have in God and His promises. 

“...I will look expectantly for the LORD…”

In 2023, I learned so much about what Godly expectation looked like and boy, did that change my perspective on how I approached waiting for His promises. See, I had often hedged my bets with prayers by saying things like, “if it’s Your will, but I know it’s crazy, I get this isn’t going to happen” etc. I cognitively knew God could do anything but my heart had a hard time applying that to my own meager life. I waited for the Lord but not with any form of true expectation. It was the hope of crossing your fingers, not the hope of a child when their parents are preparing for Christmas or a birthday, you know? That’s a huge difference and one I came to recognize through this verse. 

“... and with confidence in Him I will keep watch;” 

With the above understanding of expecting God to actually act you can now see how one could have confidence in watching for Him to arrive on the scene. Micah wasn’t speaking as someone who was hoping God might show up one day but rather as one waiting at the window for His impending arrival. Knowing in his heart of hearts that regardless of the time waiting, He was coming. 

“...I will wait [with confident expectation] for the God of my salvation…”

This is why I love the Amplified version of this verse. Y’all know my history of struggling with my waiting seasons and 2023 taught me that waiting didn’t have to be a dreary pause but rather an exciting prelude. It wasn’t the endless “waiting to be grown up” of childhood but rather the excitement of waiting for Christmas Eve and all that you knew would come. It doesn’t change that I’m often impatient or that I sometimes treat the Lord like a UPS tracker but it does change the heart of how I wait for Him and His promises, whatever they may be. As I said, this year began with heartbreak and ironically, heartbreak surrounding what I thought was an answered prayer, yet in the midst of this chaos and uncertainty the Lord kept showing me that His promises don’t return unfulfilled and that my unexpected season of waiting was all a part of His plan and filled with great expectations. You want to talk about trying to convince your heart to believe something that just seems impossible but that’s exactly what happened throughout the year. 

“...My God will hear me.”

Of all the verse has to offer, this might be my favorite bit because, much like the beginning, it feels like it is stated to someone with a bit of defiance. Not “I hope He will hear me” or “I think He heard me”. No, my God will hear me. First, I love that it’s personal! MY God! Not a god or the God or even God. No, this is Micah’s intimate and known God that is listening. I think that is key. I don’t think you could have the certainty and confidence of the previous statements without this relationship. 

Finally, I love that it closes with such a powerful statement of certainty that He will be heard, not because of his words or his prestige but because of who God is. He knows God will hear him and that is something, as children of God, we can claim as well. Especially, when Satan likes to have us believe after long seasons of waiting and what seems like unanswered prayers that, no, MY God will hear me. I’m not blindly hoping it will happen. I know He hears me even now and with that truth in my heart, how can I not have confidence and expectation while waiting for the Lord?