Habakkuk 3:17-18
“Although the FIG tree shall not blossom, neither shall
fruit be in the vines. The labor of the olive shall fail, the fields shall
yield no meat, the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no
herd in the stalls. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my
salvation.”
Have you ever been there? Have you ever been in a situation
like Habakkuk? He is describing a time when nothing is going right, nothing
good is happening, in fact just the opposite, everything going on is causing
him pain and suffering.
The truth is, most of us, have experienced times in our lives
like these. Life comes with problems built in. No one walks through life
without trouble, without hardships, or without pain. All of us will have our heart
broken at least once or twice. Many will be lied on and despised.
Just look in the Bible and you will see what I'm talking
about. David was called a man after ‘God’s own heart.’ He was a great warrior and
the King of Israel, and a worshipper. But that did not exempt David from pain.
If you study David’s life, you will see a man who endured much pain.
Job was a righteous man, but he endured more grief and pain
than would seem humanly possible. Joseph, Daniel, the prophets: I could go on
and on, but I believe the point is clear – sometimes life hurts.
Sometimes you're in the pit, sometimes a den of lions, and
sometimes you're in the fire. One day you’re on the Mountain calling fire down
from heaven, and then the next thing you know, you're in the cave hoping
Jezebel doesn't find you. Times of suffering come to us all. Many times, it’s
just because we're in the world, but there are also attacks upon us that are
demonic in nature, attacks straight out of hell.
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as
a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” – I Peter 5:8
I have said all of this to lead up to this fact: there will
be times in your life when praise just doesn’t make sense. When in our natural
minds, we have no reason to praise, it is absolutely, humanly impossible for us
to reason that praise is the appropriate response to our dilemma. Praise just
isn’t logical.
Habakkuk was doing something that, when viewed from a
fleshly perspective, made no sense. He was standing during chaos, loss, emptiness,
confusion, and disappointment. But instead of allowing his circumstances to control
his relationship with God, he did something that sent shock waves through hell
and applause through heaven.
He said, “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the
God of my salvation.”
Habakkuk had decided, “I'm going to praise my God even when it
makes no sense.”
I may be going through a season of pain, but I can still praise
Him in my pain. You may be walking through the fire of divorce, or family
turmoil, but you can still shout. You may be crying yourself to sleep at night
over the prodigals in your life, but amid your cries, you can still sing
hallelujah!
I have decided to be illogical, I may look like a fool to
those around me, but I'm not going to let my emotions take over. I'm not going
to go into deep depression. I'm not going to get angry at God and accuse Him of
not loving me, and not caring about me.
I'm going to do what David did: I'm going to encourage
myself in the Lord. Then I'm going to get my praise on. I'm going to put on the
garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. I'm going to open my mouth and
praise God.
No matter what, I'm going to give Him the praise that’s due His name!
