Fickle or Steadfast Commitment?


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, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places. 
Habakkuk 3:17-19

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was thrown into prison for his Biblical beliefs, and who was eventually murdered for them by the Nazis in World War II. While he was in prison there in Germany, he wrote to his fiancee, Maria Von Wedermeyer, and spoke ‘Pain is a holy angel, who shows treasures to men which otherwise remain forever hidden.’ He wrote that   through (pain) men have become greater than through all joys of the world.’ He said, ‘It must be so and I tell this to myself in my present position over and over again … But it needs to be overcome every time and thus there is an even holier angel than the one of pain, that is the one of joy in God.” (Bonhoeffer letter to Maria Von Wedemeyer, quoted in Metaxas, p. 495)  Bonhoeffer wanted his beloved Maria to know, that there was something greater than his pain: and that was his “joy in God.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s circumstances were about as bad as you can get in this world; but he was committed to worship God anyway.

Sometimes we might wish we knew the future, but Habakkuk shows us here why God doesn’t usually allow us to know. As a prophet, he knew what was going to happen to his country.

Habakkuk lived about 700 years before the time of Christ, and it was one of the most difficult times in Bible history. The chosen people of God in Israel & Judah had turned away from God’s word, and had been practicing idolatry and all kinds of other sins for generations, and despite God’s warnings through His prophets, and many chastisements for their sins, they continued in them, and had not turned back.

Just because we are a believer in God, it does not mean that everything the future holds on this earth is going to be rosy for us. Habakkuk was a man of God. And yet he said I just have to sit here and wait quietly for the people to come who are going to invade our country and kill and ravage us.

But the remarkable thing here is, that in the face of this unavoidable calamity, Habakkuk had an unwavering commitment. The unwavering commitment is recorded in the above verses.

Habakkuk said that he knew these hard times were coming when they would lose all of their material blessings, food, cattle, and so on but inspite of all these he was planning to continue worshipping God and placing his strength in God.

Infact the magnitude of his faith could be seen in verses 18 and 19 where he says, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places.

He’s saying, not only am I committed to praise God through this, but He will be my strength through this. “Yahweh is my strength.”

When he said, “my feet are like hinds’ feet,” a “hind” is a female deer. The deer is known for its nimbleness and grace, and its ability to keep its footing even in a high, precarious place. So when he says “God, you’ve made my feet like hinds’ feet,” he’s saying, You’ve given me the ability to somehow keep my balance in this unsettling, difficult situation!

He’s saying, God is with me; God is strengthening me; He is stabilizing me in this time. 

Dear Friends God does not promise that we will not have troubles and difficulty here on earth. In fact, He pretty much promises that we will! But He says in Isaiah 41:10, if you will commit your life to Me, I will be with you, and I will strengthen you, and help you through those times — and when they’re finished God says, I’ll bring you to My glory.  But He’ll strengthen us and be with us until that day.  

This Lenten Season can we have a commitment to God even when we are not getting healed from every illness, and even in our financial, marital and social struggles.

God Bless You.

Location: Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India

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