Give it to God
“Though the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines; though the yield of the olives fail, and the fields produce no food; though the flock should be cut off from the fold, and there be no cattles in their stalls, yet I will exult in the Lord; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.” Habakkuk 3:17-18
Wow, and sometimes we think we have it bad. Habakkuk was living in a pastoral community, everything for him was about what he grew, or the animals he raised. He was living in a day and time when he could not simply go to the Kroger down the street and get a dozen eggs or a gallon of milk. No, if his aimals didn’t produce, or if he couldn’t grow food then he went hungry. Not only him, but his entire family. In the same way, if he didn’t have sheep to shear, or cows for leather then they didn’t have any clothes.
One day Habakkuk looked out his window, and he didn’t see anything. I can just imagine him dropping his coffee cup(if they drank coffee), and running outside to see where his animals were. He couldn’t find them, and as he turned around he saw that his fields which were once lush green were now barren. I imagine that his heart fell to the ground as he thought about the future of him and his family. However, in the middle of his despair I can also hear him as he cries out to God, “Even though I might starve, and I might have to watch my family go hungry, I will still praise Your name through the pain.
There are so many mental images going through my head as I read this that I hope I can find the right words. This story of Habakkuk reminds me so much, and it almost parallels what happened to Job. You remember the story of Job. The story of Job begins with him finding out that his cattle were taken; while he’s still listening to that tragedy another messenger tells him that his sheep were destroyed; immediately after that he learns that all his camels were stolen. And to top all that off he learns that all his children have died. All this happened in one day, and then Job was stricken with a skin disease of some kind. However, the Bible is clear on the point that even in all of his troubles Job did not sin against God. He said to his wife in Job 2:10, “…You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and not accept adversity?…”
There are two more examples that I want to talk about. The first example is from the movie, “Facing the Giants”. If you have never seen this movie I highly recommend it. One because it’s a football movie, but mostly because it is a movie about how far we can go when we rely on God. There is a scene in the movie where the high school football coach is walking through the woods reading the Bible, and talking to God. His team had had a losing season the year before, and this year was not looking any better. The coach did not pray to God for a winning season, but simply devoted that season and team to God; and he told God whether we win or lose we will praise You. His team ended up winning the State Champioship not just for that year, but for the next 2 or 3. Plus, God added another surprise to reward this man for his faithfulness . (I’m not going to tell you what that was. You’ll have to watch the movie.)
The second illustration comes from Scripture. Paul was truly a man that had a desire to do the will of God. However, in his zeal for God Paul’s life was often in danger, and he never knew where he would sleep or what he would eat. Many times he was arrested by the Romans for sharing the Gospel. Listen to these words penned by Paul, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glories that await us.” Romans 8:18
Praise God there is something better coming that is far beyond anything we can imagine. We must simply wait, and God will deliver!
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Father, I thank You for the hard times that we all go through that make us stronger and a better witness for You, and I ask that when these hard times come You would help us to keep our eyes on You knowing that You will deliver us and give us glories that we can’t even imagine. In Jesus’ name, Amen
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Yes, You Can Ministry 