How’s a praying wife to have joy when it looks so bare? Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. Habakkuk 3:17-18 Most likely, you aren’t concerned with not having bare fig trees or grape vines. You probably aren’t staring at lonely, empty stalls that normally hold your livestock. But maybe you are staring at your bed each night…knowing once again, you’ll climb into it alone. You might be staring at the check book, the numbers seem to grow smaller and smaller. If only your husband would help, if only he wouldn’t blow his money on his fixes and sins. You might be looking into the eyes of your child who grows more frustrated each day with the absence of his father. You know the sorrow of attempting to hope that your husband will come to the end of himself…only to be disappointed and confused again. Habakkuk spoke of joy. How can you experience joy when all around you seems to be emptiness and broken dreams? You long to know what its like to kneel together in prayer, sit together in church, read God’s Word as a couple, discuss Biblical truths. You think of the peace that would naturally flow thru your home. You’d finally be able to tithe like you had hoped, you could go about your day, so content, all would be well…if only he believed. It seems almost too good to be true that it happens like that for some. But even though a couple prays together, attends church on Sunday, places Christ in the center of all that they do a basic truth still remains: they are two sinners living together. Just as if Habakkuk had full stalls, overflowing grain bins, baskets of fruit and barns that could not contain all of his wealth…if his heart did not choose to be grateful, choose to rejoice and be joyful in the Lord…he wouldn’t be any more content then when he found himself in great want…but with an overflowing heart. Just a few lines before the ones above Habakkuk speaks of his heart pounding, his lips quivering, weakness coming to his knees, he trembled. No doubt, if you are a waiting, praying wife, you’ve known what it is to have your knees give way, your soul weep with such bitter tears and your heart be broken in a million pieces. But Habakkuk choice to rejoice, he resolved to be joyful. What does it look like for you to be joyful in the midst of lonely nights, longing to share your faith, feeling rejected and frustrated? Perhaps that question can best be answered by looking for truth. Habakkuk speaks of that truth in verse 19: The Sovereign Lord is my strength: he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights. The Lord is your strength – not your husband, not your “Godly” marriage, not kneeling together in prayer, not discussing passages of Scripture…pure and simple, your ability to carry on is the supernatural gift of God. It is Him in you. It has nothing to do with anyone else. You could have a man on fire for the Lord and still feel weak and defeated. He makes your feet like the feet of a deer – a deer is swift and fast, able to leap without much effort over obstacles that are much higher than its body. With extreme ease they soar…boundless, effortless leaps as if springs are on their legs. With the swiftness in those legs they can run almost anywhere. You are facing such heights…a mountain that seems impossible to scale…its as if you are constantly at the bottom, looking up, you’ll never reach the peak, you’ll never overcome. But God will give you strength and an energy enabling you to climb, to continue on. You are in a position to look to God for your needs. You are in a place where God has much room to work. You are not fat and content…without need, want or sorrow…you are groaning in spirit, you are desperate for God to move in your beloved, desperate for hope in your own heart. How lonely you have been. How long since you’ve known the tender touch of pure love. But God is there, though everything looks hopeless, empty, like that mountain that is impossible and a relationship that cannot be salvaged…He is there. Though you have no idea how you are going to make it through another day of hardship and a child longing for his father, another night of being alone, another time of prayer without your husband by your side, another painful glimpse of a family enjoying right fellowship…you must rejoice in the Lord, you must choose to be joyful in God your Savior for He is the strength you will need, He will equip you with what you need for each day…enabling you to go as far as He asks of you. Though your home looks bare in the way of what you had hoped and desired. Keep pressing on, keep groaning in your spirit, keep making the choice to rejoice…though the fig trees does not bud.
Posted on: Sat, 14 Sep 2013 14:58:52 +0000
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