Choosing to Rejoice

 

                                                         Photo by Roger Bradshaw on Unsplash

Habakkuk already knew what is to come from what the Lord told him to write (Hab.2:2).

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, Hab.3:17

Things will never be the same again. Nothing will remain "as usual". There will be new normal. When the fig tree is supposed to bloom, it will not. When vines should bear fruit, it will not. Even the olives should produce oil for butter, there will be no oil this time. The coming of captivity will bring them no more people to tend the fields, hence, it will yield no crop. And like the domino effect, there will be famine, no more food for people and flocks. No food for animals and so they will be gone. The Chaldeans will take everything they have. What will be left in Judah are those poor and unskilled people. The smart and talented ones will be taken in Bablylon like Daniel. 

I can't help but think, wow, what a gloomy thought it would be. However, Habakkuk was a changed man, he didn't see the burden anymore. He knew God is before them, there will be end of all of this. He knew that Chaldeans power will end and the Lord remains God in the His temple. He will save them, for the righteous will live by faith.

What a joy indeed to look at God's goodness and power. I like how Matthew Henry said it. 

Note, When we are in the full enjoyment of our creature comforts we should consider that there may come a time when we shall be stripped of them all, and use them accordingly, as not abusing them, 1Co_7:29, 1Co_7:30.

Nothing is permanent. Nothing stays the same as always. Food, comforts, travels, enjoyment, if all our joy is linked to this world, we are doomed, because it can go away. 

A person who is happy of what he has for he knows they are grace, knows that there's greater Joy. Like Habakkuk, despite of the gloom, he looked to God who is everlasting. He chose to rejoice because God remains Almighty. He is his salvation and strength.

 

Hab 3:18  yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. 

Hab 3:19  GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. 

For further reading to encourage you during this time: http://www.joelbeeke.org/2020/03/10-ways-in-which-this-coronavirus-pandemic-can-be-for-our-good/