I will rejoice...?

I never think it's a coincidence when the same passage of Scripture ends up showing up in multiple places in a short period of time.

And in the past two weeks, Habakkuk 3 has come up.

Habakkuk? When is the last time I read or heard anything about Habakkuk?

It came up in a sermon, and it was also a reading section in my devotional book the same week.

Habakkuk 3:17-18 says, "Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit re 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, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I still take joy in the God of my salvation." (ESV)

We were watching a podcast yesterday that says we should be grateful during this pandemic that it is waking us up from a 75- to 100-year nap when nothing bad happened in our country. Yes, bad things have happened, but really, we've had it rather easy for the most part, especially during the current lifetime.

We should be thankful because this trouble shows our weak spots, helps us see reality that we need to prepare for in the future, shows us the strength of our leaders, and our own strength.

I go even further to say thank you for a time like this to wake us up to see where we really stand with God. Do we trust him only when things are easy? Do we rejoice and find joy only when things are simple and going our way? Or do we rejoice when the stalls and fields are empty and disease is on our doorstep?

I have to say that I want to rejoice, and I want to tell God that I will rejoice no matter what. It makes me nervous to commit to that --- I mean, bad things are in our country, but they haven't come for me or my family. What if they do? What if I say I'll rejoice and then God tests that commitment?

I pray that I still will. I pray that Habakkuk will remind me that no matter what, I will take joy in the God of my salvation and will rejoice in him alone, not my circumstances.