Walk of Life – Day 13 – November 2021 – Give Thanks Unto the Lord
Give Thanks In Suffering
Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Habakkuk 3:17
I was speaking to a very dear friend suffering from cancer and undergoing treatment for over a year away from family. She said “I will never ask the Lord why…did I ask why when God blessed me abundantly, when He gave me all I needed, when He answered all my prayers? Should I ask why now? He knows what is best. He has allowed this in my life. I will just say thank you Lord” I have heard preachers say that this is the way we should react to suffering but when I heard it from a suffering friend, it made all the difference!! Just like Job asked…shall we receive good from the Lord and not evil? The Lord has given, the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord. Its easy to be at the listening side to such conversation, but to walk through the fire and thank the Lord for the fire is truly possible only by someone who knows his/her God personally and intimately.
While considering this passage, we need to understand that God revealed to Habakkuk that his country would be ransacked and invaded. They would be overtaken by the Babylonians and everything they had worked for would be gone. Habakkuk begins the book by questioning God but when he ends the book, it is a song of praise no matter what!!
The first scenario is “Though the fig tree does not blossom and there are no fruit in the vine.” The fig tree blossoms and the grapes indicate your future hopes. You believe when you see the blossoms and the grapes that you will get figs and vine. So here he is saying, “Though I have no visible sign of hope for the future, nothing tangible that I can see or touch or grasp, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in God my Savior.”
The second scenario is “Though the olive fails and the fields produce no food.” The olive and the fields are things that you are presently trusting. The crop here fails, the field does not give food. You have worked hard, given your best in your work but due to some internal politics, you are laid off or you have been very sincere and faithful in a relationship but it comes breaking down for no fault of yours. So here Habakkuk is saying “Though everything I am trusting in the present for a livelihood, though all the relationships I carefully built come crashing down, though my business fails, though I work for the Lord yet see no fruit at present…yet will I rejoice in my Lord”
The third scenario is “Though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls.” The sheep and cattle refer to those things you are trusting from the past. They represent your reserves. Especially during the two years of lockdown most of us were there…jobs were shaky, there was no money in the bank, almost used up all the credit cards, already taken many loans and not paid back there was nothing to fall back on. Here Habakkuk is saying ” Though all my bank savings are nil, though all the friends and family I relied on are not visible anymore, though everything that I so meticulously planned is zero at the moment…yet will I rejoice in the Lord.”
Think of each situation and put yourself there…can you rejoice in the worst just as you thank the Lord for all his abundant blessings? Are we thanking God no matter what and trusting Him in every situation? Answer this question very honestly – when will you consider yourself financially secure? If you have 1 crore in the bank or if you have a God who promises to meet your daily needs? If the answer is the 1 crore then you are trusting the money and not the Lord. The money may be gone in a minute but faith in an eternal God is the only thing that will take you through any situation and you will be more secure than any millionaire or billionaire.
Habakkuk says, “Though you have no visible hope for the future, and what you were trusting in the present has let you down, and you have no reserves from the past to fall back on, still rejoice in the Lord, still be joyful in God.” Why? Because the Lord Jesus is your hope, your strength, and your Savior.
You will never be alone on life’s pathway if you have Him by your side. Everyone may be temporarily separated from you, but Christ will be always be there comforting, caring, strengthening and guiding you through. “Lo I am with you always even to the end of the ages. “
