The stories are all different but the results are equally life changing here for so many of our friends. But one dear sister in our small group shared this verse from Habakkuk that encouraged her this morning.
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, and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. Habakkuk 3:17-18 Esv
Habakkuk sees trouble everywhere he looks, and since he is surrounded by problems he looks up and sees the Lord. We are so blessed to be on the edge of the devastation untouched, but our hearts go out to so many who are struggling today. We do not know the answers or have the solutions, but we can have hope and even joy because our Lord remains the God of our salvation, our helper and friend in time of trouble!
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
I haven’t been posting much because we have been traveling the country, visiting our family over the last two weeks. Seeing our sons, our grandchildren and in-laws has been a wonderful though exhausting experience. When I stopped into Walmart to get the oil changed yesterday, I learned that we had logged 4,300 miles, but it has been worth it to see our granddaughter at ballet practice, our grandson holding a baby goat and our boys who are now grown men! In spending a birthday with one of our older grandsons, he chose among the activities of his special day, to watch his cousin’s speech class presentation day. As the teacher opened the session, she began with a quote that really stuck with me. “Some people say that practice makes perfect. But practice doesn’t make perfect, practice makes progress!”
How often in our Christian walk do we beat ourselves up, or stress out over mistakes and feel like quitting, because we have not attained that “Perfect” status that we hoped for? That was certainly the situation which the prophet Habakkuk faced in today’s verse. He had done his best praying, preaching and setting a good example for the people that God had called him to serve. Yet most folks ignored his advice and had fallen deeply into the sins of idol worship and sexual immorality. The armies of the Babylonian empire were now destroying his nation, burning the temple and putting an end to the kingdom that God had once given to King David. Things couldn’t have looked worse. Habakkuk saw that no matter how hard he tried or how persuasively he preached, that his version of success was not to be, and yet God gave him hope. In his darkest moments, Habakkuk discovered that God was still his strength and God was still in charge of the spiritual progress that he was going to make. No matter the cliffs of impossible situations, hopeless battles or dark days ahead, God would give him feet as sure footed as a wild deer. God showed him that even in those places he could walk and not fall. God is also our hope, our refuge and our strength in the bleak circumstances that sometimes surround us, our families and our nation. We can have hope because our God doesn’t demand our perfect response to terrible circumstances or perplexing people. Instead, He takes weaklings like you and me and gives us strength. He makes us as sure-footed and graceful as a deer so that we can make progress day by day as we walk with Him up onto the highest places of all!
I was in one of my gloomiest slumps as I went to the nursing home yesterday. I minister at four different places and this particular one is one of those 5 star places that look more like a cruise ship than your typical long term care home. But other than some wonderful times of ministry in the memory care unit, the chapel services in the regular assisted living wing have been almost totally empty since Covid-19. The staff is stretched thin and some of the residents who used to attend have passed away. On top of that it has been hard to explain to the new activities director that we need staff to encourage and help the residents to come to church. The result has been that for the last several sessions the chapel meetings have been empty. Of course this has not been a complete loss as I simply did a u-turn and went in to sing for my friends in memory care (which is always fun!). But I already have scheduled meetings with them on other Sundays and I have kept hoping to restart church services with the rest of the facility.
So with dim hopes yesterday I just surrendered my frustrations to the Lord and accepted that if it was not His will for chapel services then I would leave that in His hands. So I arrived and logged in with the high tech equipment that reads my temp, recognizes my cell phone number and prints my name tag, expecting to find the meeting room vacant once more. But when the elevator door opened on the second floor and I peeked around the corner I was delightedly surprised by several faces looking my way as they heard the elevator opened! My feet suddenly felt as light as a feather and I excitedly walked down the hall, took our my guitar ready to begin with a fresh reminder that God is faithful and that His plan will work out in His own time and His own way. As He had done in the past, God allowed me to fall to my lowest point so I could learn again that only He knows best. My Bible reading this morning was in the book of Habakkuk. There I saw that my Old Testament brother reminded me a bit of myself. Of course he was facing life and death and I was not, but that gloom and doom surrounding most of the first three chapters seemed vaguely familiar. Then his book ends with a glorious Hebrew poem of praise that is like the sun breaking out of the clouds just before sunset. Its song showed me that I could rejoice even when the chapel sat empty and no one seemed to care, because in His own time God filled it again and taught me to walk on my high places!
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,
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 heights.
For the director of music. On my stringed instruments
Written by Habakkuk copyright 629 BC
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