Habakkuk Taught Me Something

Renee, this is for you because you have walked these last several weeks with the joy of the LORD and it has moved me to tears.

I sometimes hitchhike in the Bible, mostly after I have finished reading a particular book I have stayed in for any length of time. Hitchhiking simply entails me saying “What do you want me to learn today, LORD?” and then I take a ride with whatever book I open to.

A few weeks ago I was hitchhiking and took a ride in Habakkuk (I think that might have been the second time I have read in that book!) and the last verses of chapter 3 felt quite pertinent:

Though the fig tree should not blossom
And there be no fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive should fail
And the fields produce no food,
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold
And there be no cattle in the stalls,
Yet I will exalt in the LORD,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
The Lord GOD is my strength,
And He has made my feet like hinds' feet,
And makes me walk on my high places.

Things sound really bleak for Habakkuk. I mean, was anything going well? It sounds like not. And yet he chooses to rejoice in the LORD, not just be meek and lowly and wait for things to get better, but REJOICE!

When I think of my feet being like that of a deer, I feel light and sure-footed.

How can Habakkuk feel like he is walking on a high place? Sounds to me like he should be in a dark pit. Oh LORD, how good you are to those who love YOU. YOUR love is better than life.

Habakkuk taught me something that day: GOD is bigger than our circumstances and circumstances should not dictate the praise and honor due to HIM.

And so I praise HIM for all that HE has done; for all that HE has given; and for all that HE has taken away. And deep down in the parts of my heart that ache and long, it feels right to give HIM praise. Not only for what HE has done, but for who HE is.

I Am Promised Nothing

I always knew this, but I never truly believed it until now. I am promised nothing. Nothing. And it’s so bittersweet to sit with that. To let it sink in. It’s bitter because it means I do not get my way; I don’t get what I want. It’s sweet because it moves me to draw nearer to the LORD and to cling to the one promise I have and that is that HE will never leave me or forsake me. And that gives me hope.

Not hope that I try to fill myself with. But GOD’s hope.

My hope tells me that I will have a beautiful baby someday. But I may not. GOD’s hope is not like that. HIS hope does not return void. So I am hoping for something that is not of this world. I am hoping for JESUS. I wait in anticipation for His coming.

And while I still hope for the joy of things to be had on earth, I know that true joy is yet to come. True joy is not dependent on my circumstances and I thank the LORD for that.