No Matter What

Habakkuk 3:17-19 KJV


17 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour 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:

18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

19 The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.

 
It is so easy to serve God and to praise Him in the easy times. When God is blessing you and everything is giggles and roses, THAT is when most people claim to be Christians and to love God.
 
Well, what if everything wasn't perfect? What if you got laid off your job, there was a famine or a drought, and the economy collapsed, and the bank called in your loan?
 
Would you still love God then? Would you still praise Him and thank Him for another day that you can spend wrapped in his love?
 
Well?
 
The true test of any relationship isn't when things are going good--often dubbed the "honeymoon" phase. It's afterwards, when you get to know each other a little bit, and you are trying to bend the other person to your will, and they are doing the same to you. You know each other just enough to maybe start to dislike each other--or at least certain things about each other.
 
Most marriages today end in divorce, most within the first 5 years. People think that  because they love each other, marriage should be easy. Thus, they are shocked when the sweet beautiful girl they thought they married lashes out when she's on her monthly cycle and hasn't brushed her teeth in at least two days.
 
That's when true love kicks in.
 
The above scriptures record Habakkuk making a covenant with God. He is saying that no matter what happens, he will rejoice in the Lord.
 
How could he say that? How could he rejoice in God when so many things have gone wrong: the fig tree doesn't blossom ( a major source of nourishment at the time ), no grapes grow, no olives grow, the harvest is poor, the herds of sheep and cattle become ill. How could anyone rejoice in God after that?
 
Look at the last part of verse 18: "I will joy in the God of my salvation."
 
No matter what happens, God is always the God of salvation. He is our Source of strength.
 
Habakkuk says that "[God] will make my feet like hinds'" - (a female deer) - "feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places."
 
He will give us the ability to walk upon the mountaintop, overcoming the struggles and the problems that we may face.
 
Oh, God, I vow Habakkuk's covenant to you: I will love you and praise you no matter what. I will draw my strength from You and You alone. Thank you for being a personal God, the God of my salvation.
 
Amen.