All right now, if we're honest, reading the Bible consistently can be a challenge, but it's never too late to start and we're in this together.

This is the Join the Journey podcast.

Thanks for joining and Merry Christmas.

Today, we're reading Micah 5, 2 through 5, but before we jump in, I have one quick announcement.

On Sunday, January 5th, 2025, join the journey will be highlighted at Watermark's prayer service

as we kick off our 2025 reading plan entitled Year of the Word, reading the whole Bible cover-to-cover.

And we would absolutely love for you to be there. Save the date and we'll put

all the information in the episode description. But that's in January. Today we're talking all

things Micah 5 too, which reminded me of a specific season in my life. Several years ago, I remember

feeling incredibly insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

I was part of a smaller church in my tiny town wondering how God could use someone like me.

And truthfully, I was wondering what the future had in store.

But then one day, a friend reminded me of how God often uses small and seemingly unimportant things to accomplish his

greatest work. And that conversation changed the way I saw myself in my circumstances. And today,

I think about how some of the silly tasks that I did in that job, like filming weekly announcement

videos for college students, prepared me for what I do now,

teaching the Bible on the Join the Journey podcast and beyond,

where I'm often behind a microphone or in front of a camera.

And when I think about today's passage in Micah,

it brings me back to that moment,

reminding me of how God's plans are often bigger than what we can see. So let's look at today's

text. But you, O Bethlehem Epitha, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,

...