[Read Habakkuk 3:17-19]
I really enjoy reading history—especially reading about Christians and missionaries of the past. For quite some time, I always had one Christian biography on my currently reading shelf. These books move me and strengthen me as I read about faithful followers of Christ doing extraordinary things for his people and his kingdom. I often find myself walking away from these books firmed up in my own faith, with a renewed zeal and passion and commitment to follow the Lord wherever he leads.
Yet, I also experience another feeling as I read these books. As I read about Jan Huss—a reformed who lived a hundred years before Martin Luther—and watched the way he stood for God’s Word and truth and the way he sang hymns to God while being burned at the stake, I found myself questioning, “Am I strong enough to do that? Or would I fail in that moment?” Or as I read about Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s fight for truth and justice in Nazi Germany and the way he remained faithful after his capture and imminent death, I found myself asking the same question, “Would I be able to suffer the way he did, with joy and peace and confidence?” Or as I read the Bible story about Job, this righteous man who basically lost everything—his children, his home, his herds, and his health—and I read him say these powerful words (that we sang earlier in the service), “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21, ESV), I find myself wondering, “Would I respond that way in that moment? Could I actually praise God in the midst of such a tragic situation, when I had lost everything?”
I ask myself these questions because I know how I’ve responded to much smaller trials. There have been moments in my life when I kept my mouth shut because I was afraid of being looked down upon by other people or afraid of making someone angry. How in the world could I stand firm when faced with death? There have been moments in my life when I have completely freaked out, and experienced a level of despair over something as small as a car breaking down. If I was unable to praise God in that teeny situation, how in the world could I praise God in the midst of losing everything? I’m weak and I know it.
Then we come to this week’s passage, which is one of the most beautiful passages in all of scripture. I love that moment when Job praises God in the midst of his tragedy, but I love this passage even more. There’s something deeper for us to find in this passage—something very beautiful in the midst of tragedy and chaos.
The passage begins by beautifully painting a devastating picture. I realize that’s an ironic statement, but it’s true. It begins by saying, “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,” (Habakkuk 3:17, ESV). This passage is beautifully written and paints a clear picture of the situation—but the beauty of this passage stands in stark contrast to the devastation it describes. The fig tree isn’t blossoming and there isn’t any fruit on the vines and the olive trees aren’t producing any fruit. This is a picture of a barren wasteland, where there’s no life. Imagine looking across a landscape where every tree is dead and gone. Even worse, the fields aren’t providing any food. They’re gone. The flocks of sheep are also gone. The herds of cows are gone. Desolation everywhere. Everything has been taken away. They’ve lost everything.
It’s important for us to put ourselves in their shoes. These people couldn’t run into town to buy some groceries or pick up supplies. Everything they needed for life came from the land. So, when the olive trees aren’t producing fruit, they don’t have olive oil—which is a staple product in that place and time. They didn’t just use olive oil on their food, like we do, they used it for many things—like fuel for their lamps. That was all gone. When the fields weren’t producing, they had no grain for meals or for bread. When the sheep are gone from the fields, they had no meat to eat. When the cows are gone from the stalls, they had no milk to drink. Everything had been taken away from them. It was gone.
That was the picture Habakkuk saw on the horizon. That’s what was coming for God’s people. As Babylon came in judgement upon Israel, they would wipe out everything—kill the flocks and burn the fields, like a scorched earth policy. It would be like a negative version of “leave no trace.”
But, as Habakkuk looks at this devastating picture ahead of him, he says something very powerful. He says, “Yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.” (Habakkuk 3:18, ESV). With utter devastation in front of him, with the understanding that he will lose everything, he says, “Even then, I will still rejoice in my God. I will still praise Him.” It’s very similar to Job, isn’t it? The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.
But he says more than that. He not only says blessed be the name of the Lord, he says he will REJOICE in the Lord and he will TAKE JOY in the God of his salvation. Joy and Rejoicing in the midst of utter devastation and loss of all things. That’s incredibly powerful.
There’s something inside us that longs for this, isn’t there? There’s something deep down in our soul that yearns to be able to say this and respond in this way. We’ve seen this in other people and we want it.
Yet, we question if we could ever do it, don’t we? If this was directed at us, and this passage read, “Though the mortgage payment is overdue and the eviction notice is on my door, though the fridge is empty and my stomach is growling, though the power has been cut off and I no longer have heat, though the clothes on my back are filled with holes and filthy, though my friends have all turn their backs on me,” we wonder if we would be able to say, “YET I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.” Or would we become angry and furious at our God? Or would we crumble into a pool of despair? Could we really praise God and find JOY when we’ve lost everything? Are we really strong enough to stand firm and praise God in that moment and find joy?
You wanna know the answer? The answer is NO…and YES. I know this isn’t popular to say, but it’s true. You are not strong enough to stand in that moment. I don’t care if the world keeps telling you that you are. You are not. You will crumble and enter the fetal position in two seconds flat. It doesn’t matter how much you try to convince yourself—or how loudly you yell at yourself—deep down inside you know you’re not strong enough. So, stop lying to yourself and admit the truth.
Now, I realize that may not seem like helpful information. It may seem like I’m telling you to live a hopeless life. Listen to the next part of our passage: “GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.” (Habakkuk 3:19, ESV). You are not strong enough, but God is your strength. I mentioned this at Thanksgiving. His power is made perfect in our weakness. We are weak but He is strong.
So, when you find yourself looking at some terrifying experience, wondering if you’re strong enough to endure it or strong enough to keep the faith or strong enough to praise God in the storm, recognize that you’re not, but God is. God is strong enough to carry you through those difficulties. God is strong enough to keep you in the palm of his hand and not let you go. God is strong enough to strengthen your faith. AND God is strong enough to work in you and create JOY in you in the midst of devastating circumstances. He is our strength and he will provide for you in the midst of whatever comes your way. That’s how we can rejoice in the midst of chaos. That’s how we find joy when it seems like we’ve lost everything. God gives it to us.
That’s what the Apostle Paul is talking about in a famous passage from Philippians—one of the most misquoted and mistreated passages of the Bible. He says this, “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:11–13, ESV). That last part of the verse pops up everywhere, doesn’t it? It’s the favorite verse of Christian athletes and motivational speakers. But, what are the “all things” that Paul is talking about? Learning to be content in every situation—even when we’ve lost everything. When was the last time you heard someone quote this passage in that context? “Man, I’ve lost everything but I’m confident that I can be content in this situation and find joy in this situation because I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone use that verse in that way, but that’s how it was intended to be used. We can be content in every situation and we can rejoice in every situation and we can find joy in every situation because we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.
This should give us tremendous confidence and hope. It means you don’t have to live in fear of that day, because God will strengthen you and provide you with joy and contentment in that moment. Trust me, that’s exactly what I experienced throughout my time in the hospital this past fall. In the midst of that struggle, I experienced peace and joy and contentment like I’ve never experienced before in my life. Why? Because I was strong? No. I was very weak and experienced some rough days in there. But, in the midst of all that, God gave me strength and peace and contentment and joy. These were all gifts from my Father in heaven.
I think it’s also important to clarify that these things don’t always come easily—often they don’t come easily. Often we need to fight for joy and fight for contentment and fight for strength from God. There are times when we’re struggling and we need to come to our God and say, “Lord, help! I don’t think I can go on. I’m so tired. I feel weak. I don’t have any joy. I don’t have any contentment. I’m restless and anxious. Help! Strengthen me. Give me peace. Give me contentment. Give me joy.” Then we get off our knees and move forward by faith—trusting that He will grant us these things in his perfect timing, and we don’t know how long that is, but it will eventually come. We may have to pray over and over and over and over again, but that’s how we fight for our joy and our peace and our contentment. We keep coming before our God, fighting the temptation to give in, trusting that we can find joy through our God who gives us strength, we can find contentment through our God who gives us strength, we can find peace through our God who gives us strength. And we keep trusting and wrestling and praying until it comes.
And because we have confidence that God is our strength, we can live with a joyful boldness throughout life—refusing to live in fear. That’s why Habakkuk says, “He makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.” (Habakkuk 3:19, ESV). A similar picture may be helpful. I’m not sure how many of you have ever seen a mountain goat, but they are incredible animals. They hang out in the most rugged terrain of the mountains. They jump from rocky ledge to rocky ledge. Every step is fraught with danger and falling and injury, but they make those steps with a joyful boldness. They don’t look fearful as they walk through these treacherous places. They look like they’re having fun and enjoying it.
That’s the picture Habakkuk is painting for us. Since we know our God is our strength, we also know that he makes us like the mountain goat, walking through treacherous situations with a joyful boldness. Jumping from one difficulty to another to another with a twinkle in our eye, knowing that God is watching over us and providing everything we need, providing the strength to jump, the footing to not slip, and the joy that comes along with it all. That joyful boldness allows us to enter into very difficult spots and situations because we trust our God to provide for us.
Can you imagine living your life this way? Rather than always being afraid of the next trial or difficulty in front of you, you live like a mountain goat, excited to see how God will help you overcome the next tricky situation, excited to see how God will help you jump from on ledge to another, trusting God to give you strength to make the jump, trusting God to keep your foot from slipping, trusting God to give you joy and peace and contentment no matter the circumstance. Doesn’t that sound like a much better way to live, than always living in fear?
The question we’ve asked throughout this series is, “How do we live in the midst of this messy world?” The final answer is that we must live in this messy world with a joyful faith in God. That joyful faith believes we can do all things through Christ who saves us and gives us strength. That joyful faith believes that God is the one who delivers his people and gives us strength. That joyful faith enables us to look at the chaos and the mess in front of us and say with a confident smirk, “I can’t wait to see how God brings us through this one.” Then we boldly and joyfully take the next leap by faith in our God who saves.