Will you rejoice?

Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls— Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills. (Habakkuk 3:17-19 NKJV)

Is your trust contingent of God's blessing? Do you rejoice in Him only when things are good? Habakkuk struggled with this as I believe most of us do. He came to God asking why God was not listening to him, why doesn't He hear Habakkuk's cries? Then when God tells Habakkuk His plan Habakkuk starts questioning that plan. Why would you judge an unrighteous nation (Judah) with a nation that is even more unrighteous (Babylon)?

I believe this a place that we often find ourselves. We know that His ways are higher than our ways but sometimes we have difficulty trusting that. We don't know why the blessing that we have been believing for isn't here yet. We don't know why we are stuck in this same job that we hate or why a family member had to die. We struggle with the hard times that life throws at us and struggle with why God doesn't step in like we want Him to, or like we think He should.

It's okay to be in this place. God understands and He wants us to approach Him with these frustrations just like Habakkuk did. But somewhere along the line He wants us to come to the same conclusion Habakkuk did. Even when the barns are empty and the storehouses are bare I will rejoice! I will rejoice in the Lord! 

Chris Tomlinson wrote a song recently called "Even if the Healing Doesn't Come" and to be honest it was hard for me to accept this song. I grew up in a 'faith church' and I believe strongly that it is God's will to heal and it is God's will for us to be blessed in all areas of life. However there are times when that blessing doesn't come when we think it should and there are times when that person that we were praying for doesn't get healed. We can argue all day about why that didn't happen but what's more important is for us to come to this point. 

I will rejoice in the Lord no matter what!

Have you had a recent trial in which you had trouble rejoicing?