Rejoice Against the Tide
Rejoice Against the Tide
3/23/23
“Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.” Habakkuk 3:17-18
I apologize if I sound like a broken record, but I am convinced that this is a message we cannot hear enough of. There is this thought that has permeated our church that says if something is wrong in your life (loss of job, sickness, chronic pain, marriage problems, etc.) God WILL fix it.
When things don’t get better we have a tendency to take one of two paths. The first says you must have something wrong (sin, un-forgiveness, lack of faith). The second path is that you become discouraged and begin to lose faith.
This may dovetail into the devotional the other day about suffering well, but I truly believe this is the message for our church today. God is not off His throne when you life seems to be falling apart. When we read Habakkuk 3:17 we would not naturally walk away with the thought of 3:18 to “rejoice in the LORD.”
Even in our churches, we would declare that those vines will produce fruit. We would command by the power of Jesus for the fig tree to blossom.
I am not suggesting we don’t pray for things; on the contrary, I think we don’t pray enough about our struggles. Peter says to cast your anxieties on Him because He cares for you (1 Pet. 5:7).
However, after Paul prayed 3 times for the thorn in his flesh to be removed, he was told: “my grace is sufficient for you…” (2 Cor. 12:9). I wonder if Paul took that at face value, or if he continued to pray for the thorn to be removed. I don’t know.
A true mark of faith is not if we have “enough” to be healed. Rather, do we have enough to trust God through whatever season we may be walking? Can I rejoice in the LORD when there is no fruit in my life? Can I sing praises to His name when my “stables” are empty?
Ask God to remove whatever thorn is stinging you, I will join you in hoping that He will move. But I encourage you even more to ask God to give you the strength to praise Him and rejoice in His name through the valley that you may be walking through.