LEARNING DAILY

 

Habakkuk 3:17-19, Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls – Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Sovereign God is my strength! He will make me as surefooted as a deer (or will give me the speed of a deer.) and bring me safely over the mountain. (New Living Translation)

 

The third chapter of Habakkuk begins with the prophet asking God why He is ignoring him; he was asking why God would allow Judah to pursue ungodliness without dealing with them.  He asks God a second question about the judgment He is using - the evil Babylonians to chastise Judah for their sinfulness and hardheartedness. Habakkuk asked God how He could use a godless nation to judge a less wicked one.

 

Habakkuk was not the first prophet to ask God questions that begin with why and how. God is not threatened by questions like these. We can be thankful for that today because we have all wondered why and how and when. I think back over the blogs I have written and seem to deal with the evil that is always around us. I begin this way in order to finish with Habakkuk’s words above. It is to be an encouragement to all who read this page of the blog. Let me explain.

 

Verse 17 above indicates Judah was going to face some sort of famine as part of the judgment to come. Yet, Habakkuk recognizes that he did not serve God for what He gave to him; he served Him because He was God. Because He was God, Habakkuk placed His faith, his trust in Him. In chapter 2 verse 4, God told him, “The just shall live by faith”. Because of that statement Habakkuk could “rest in (faith) the day of trouble”. He was believed the righteous did not need to fear the loss of anything when the Babylonians invaded; he proclaimed the ultimate victory of all who live by faith.

 

I do not like what I see happening in the world around me! Like you I am very troubled by the senseless event that have unfolded in the last few weeks, about the ungodly decisions being forced upon us by government, by the self-centeredness of people and deceitfulness so many are living under. Like Habakkuk, we are faced with the question he faced. Will we trust in the wisdom and goodness of God regardless of what we see happening around us? The DJSB presented that question and gave the following thought. “We must all grapple with this question. Although the process was not easy, in the end Habakkuk took shelter in God Himself, deciding to be thankful and joyful. Faith grows stronger when we deliberately release our anxieties, remembering that ‘the Lord is my strength’ (3:19) and that His plans are best, no matter how unreliable life may seem at the moment. Our past, present, and future all belong to the Lord. Our times – our very lives – are in His hands. Trust Him.”

 

From now on DJSB will be used to note information or quotes from the David Jeremiah Study Bible and LSSB will refer to information and quotes from the Life in the Spirit Study Bible.  I have added Jimmy Swaggart’s Expositor’s Study Bible to be referred to from now on as JSESB.