“yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the mountain heights.” Habakkuk 3:18-19
I came across a word game a few months ago where you were presented with an open compound word, yet in a twist, the first word was missing. And just what is an open compound word? It’s two separate words with their own meaning that when put together make a complete word with its own separate meaning. For example, hot dog, common sense, and car pool are all open compound words. As a result the puzzle required you to figure out the first word to complete the challenge. For example, ____ bar would equal energy bar. Or ____ machine would be washing machine. It was fun to stretch the brain for a few minutes with this challenge, yet the game sprang back into my mind as I studied through Habakkuk chapter 3 this morning. And with that recollection a tough question came to mind. That question? What would it take for this world, the circumstances within it, or the pain within your life to steal the joy of the Lord that is promised to you?
Habakkuk finishes up his short 3 chapter book with a prayer. Or rather, a prayer set to music, a psalm. And in the opening of that psalm we find him waxing on beautifully about the power and majesty of the Lord. And then he segues halfway through the psalm to the righteous judgment of the Lord upon unrepentent sinners. And if you’ve been through many books of prophecy, you know that when the Lord judges His people for their idolatry, apostasy, sexual immorality, and drunkenness, the imagery can get very bleak. Habakkuk describes barren olive orchards, empty fig branches, desolate vineyards, vast vacant fields where food has once been plenty, and empty stalls that had once held a bounty of sheep and cattle. As the prophet of God looks around sees his fellow people hauled off into slavery, his home city pillaged and burned, and all that he knew know relegated to non-existence, he must have questioned the judgement of God. However, after witnessing all of this, Habakkuk, in his stellar faith, manages to end his psalm with one big pivot word…yet.
“yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior” Habbakkuk 3:18 emphasis mine
I think that everyone that calls upon Jesus as their Savior could and would easily utter this phrase today. I mean isn’t that what us Christians are supposed to say (or claim anyway.) But to echo our word game example above, what would need to fill in the blank before the ‘yet’ in that phrase to get you to change your tone? If all of your food vanished in a puff today and the hunger pang cries deafened your very senses, could you still follow up with this verse? If your job, your money, and all your stuff vanished before your eyes in a flash, could your heart still honestly speak out these words, truly rejoicing in the Lord? If the one you loved in this world passed into eternity at the hands of a bitter disease, could you still find the strength to rejoice and be joyful in the Lord? All extremely tough questions that lead to the importance of the lesson Habakkuk models for us in his closing Psalm.
Today, whatever may be filling in your blank before that ‘yet’, is not bigger than the Lord you serve. Whatever you may be facing today, it’s not bigger than the work that Jesus performed for you upon that old rugged cross. Whatever problems, disappointments, and turmoil that may be hounding you in this moment, it’s not bigger than the day that Christ walked out of that tomb. And whatever loss, mourning, and loneliness may be tormenting you, it’s not bigger than the Son of God that died, rose again, and today sits at the right hand of the Father, intercessing for every one of those that call Him Lord. You see, today, look very carefully at what’s filling in your blank and then carefully weigh it with proper Godly perspective. For you see, there is nothing that can fill in that blank that can offset the joy of knowing that for all those that have called of the name of Jesus to save them from the death of their sins…an eternity awaits in the halls of heaven worshiping at the feet of Jesus. And folks, that is reason enough, no matter the circumstance, to rejoice in the goodness of the Lord.
May you be happy, joyous and free in Him today ~ Dan
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 3:3-5
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