Even If…
Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls…
Habakkuk 3:17
The change in Habakkuk has been profound. In the company of God, in awe and praise of the Holy One, the prophet has regained his spiritual balance. Even if he’s still shaking in his boots, he has relinquished control: Yet I will wait patiently! (3:16). Judah will be exiled in Babylon for 70 years, but they will return. Babylon will be overthrown.
In the meantime, even if the crops fail and we starve—now that’s getting personal! I still remember that feeling of hunger, stranded in the jungles of Belize many years ago when even the taste of roast armadillo was palatable.
Perhaps you long for relief from a job that has become impossible, or a marriage that is falling apart, or an infection that has sapped you of all strength.
Feeling the feelings is inevitable. Key though is to focus on the facts. Our God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us (Ephesians 3:20).
I really like the bare bones of Jennifer Rothschild’s podcast, Can I Get Through Disappointment With Hope?
1.It is what it is!
You are willing to live in the “what is” that God has allowed for now rather than pining
away with the “what ifs.”
2.You won’t always feel this way.
This feeling of disappointment is a snapshot, not the whole photo album of your life.
3.Something new or better is around the corner.
Your situation may never actually change; but when you trust God He positions you
for a deeper relationship with Him.
Oh, the depths of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
For from him and through him and to him are all things,
To him be the glory forever! Amen.
—Romans 11:33,36
Nancy P
All Scripture quotations are from the NIV 1973, 1978, 1984, unless otherwise noted.
