Good morning!
Text: Habakkuk; Isaiah 45
Years ago, when Lyn and I were fairly new Christians, we hosted a home group for Bible study, prayer and fellowship. At one meeting, a new family showed up – a young couple with three children. Earlier that day they had been evicted from their foreclosed home, the fallout from the failure of his business. When we began to get acquainted, he asked if he could read from his Bible. He opened to Habakkuk and began reading from 3:17, weeping as he shared these words:
17 Though the fig tree should not blossom,nor fruit be on the vines,the produce of the olive failand the fields yield no food,the flock be cut off from the foldand 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.
Every time I read this short book of prophecy I recall that night and the profound faith of this stranger. He and his family became close friends, and we watched their faith sustain them as the Lord rebuilt their lives. About eight years after that first meeting, he was one of the brothers the Holy Spirit spoke through to call Lyn and me to serve Him in Eastford. These words in Habakkuk 3 are our reminder that it never gets so bad we cannot rejoice in the Lord and take joy in the God of our salvation. Never.
in Him, Mike