Do you ever feel like things keep crashing in around you–that nothing is going right in your life? Right when you start see some light at the end of tunnel–crash!–another setback. You press on, weary and tired, hoping that you can get over these mountains of pain and discouragement.
Habakkuk felt the same way. He opens his book with these words: “How long, O LORD, must I call for help? But you do not listen! ‘Violence!’ I cry, but you do not come to save. Must I forever see this sin and misery all around me? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight”(Habakkuk 1:2-3).
So many times in my life, I get overwhelmed. Like Habakkuk, I cry out, “How long, Lord, must I call for help? Aren’t you listening? Don’t you see my pain?” It seems like my prayers are going no higher than the ceiling.
What are you facing right now? Are things overwhelming for you? Are you being pressed in on every side? Are your prayers answered with only painful silence?
I want to encourage you with the final words of Habakkuk. Throughout this prophetic book, the pain and misery of the people are obvious. There seems to be no hope, no future, no peace. Yet, the final three verses of this book give us the key on how to respond when we feel so alone and abandoned:
Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,
And there are no grapes on the vine;
Even though the olive crop fails,
And the fields lie empty and barren;
Even though the flocks die in the fields,
And the cattle barns are empty,Yet I will rejoice in the LORD!
I will be joyful in the God of my salvation.
The Sovereign LORD is my strength!
He will make me as surefooted as a deer,
And bring me safely over the mountains.
Habakkuk 3:17-19
God is your strength! He is your salvation. Through Christ, you are God’s precious child. When you put your trust in him, he will make your path clear and give you the strength to pass “safely over the mountains”.
Prayer: Father, I cry out to you for peace, for help, for strength. Like Habakkuk, I will rejoice in you in spite of my circumstances. I will be joyful and choose to love you, choose serve you and choose worship you, for it’s through these sacrificial acts of service that I grow strong in you.
