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HABAKKUK 3:17-18 BY RABBI ESTHER BOUCHER |
It’s easy to rejoice when everything is great. Habakkuk is painting a very
different picture. Maybe you’re not dealing with crop failure but an empty bank
account. Maybe you are dealing with other areas of your life that are unfruitful
or where the harvest has failed. G-d wants you to turn that situation around!
You may be looking at your situation and wondering how, but G-d’s Word
shows us exactly how to do it. First, we must realize that the tests and trials of
life come to every single one of us. At some time or another, difficult times are
going to come. John 16:33 Yeshua says we will have tribulation. Then he says
to be of good cheer because He has overcome the world.
When nothing seems to be going right we need to praise G-d anyhow. Verse
18 says yet I will rejoice in the L-rd, I will be joyful in G-d my Savior. Despite our
circumstances of life, we are to rejoice in G-d. We are to delight ourselves in
G-d and His Word and not fret over our circumstances. We are to rejoice in G-
d’s goodness, mercy and abounding grace. When circumstances change for
the worse, we still can rejoice, because we’re rejoicing in our unchanging G-d!
Think of how unstable we would be if we changed our attitude and actions
every time our circumstances changed. We are living in uncertain and
troublesome times. Yet in the midst of it all, G-d does not change. And His
Word does not change. If your circumstances don’t get better that does not
change the immutability and infallibility of G-d’s holy written Word. G-d can
open the door for a better situation than you ever thought possible. But it will
be on His terms. You have to cooperate with Him and His word so He can do
it. Mal. 3:6, Heb. 13:8, Matt. 24:35, Peter 1:24-25 The word of G-d is forever
settled! It is not subject to Change! And G-d’s word is His power unto
salvation or whatever you need if you will believe. Romans 1:16 when trouble
comes and looks as if it is there to stay, you do not have to despair or be
discouraged. You don’t have to fold your hands and quit. You can rejoice in
the L-rd the G-d of your salvation. Because of Yeshua we have eternal
salvation, or eternal life. The salvation He has provided also includes safety,
preservation, deliverance, wholeness and soundness in the natural. We have
to live and function in a real world. But we don’t have to live as the world lives,
wringing our hands in despair when tests and trials arise. We have inside
information – information inside the Word of G-d! We can lift our hands and
rejoice in the face of tests and trials. The reason people waver in their
emotions, depending on whether things are good or bad, is because they have
nothing to stabilize their lives. Either they have no salvation, or they don’t
understand the salvation they have. G-d is our salvation! He is our stabilizer!
Yet when we face tests and trials, instead of rejoicing in G-d and allowing Him
to stabilize us, we often begin to question Him. And some people allow those
questions to cause them to fall away from G-d and the church. You might see
those people in church for a while but then something happens, and they drop
out of sight. They turn from the very things that will keep them steady in the
midst of a storm so they can reach the other side of that test or trial safely, with
songs in their hearts and testimonies on their lips. If the prophet Habbakkuk
were here today, he might say to you, look it’s been a bad year. You lost your
job and food has been scarce. You think you might lose everything and your
future still looks uncertain. But this is not the end for you. G-d has not changed,
and He wants to see you through. When you are in the midst of the troubles,
tests and trials remember your just passing through. Don’t pitch camp on the
troubles. Just keep on walking, rejoicing in the G-d of your salvation. Psm. 23:
4 David said he was walking through. Too many times we stop in the valley
and get devoured! Instead, we should pass through the valley of tests and
trials, rejoicing in our G-d. Focus on the positive, on G-d’s Word, instead of the
negative or the situation we’re in. We must make choices – to despair or
rejoice; to falter or stand; to act in fear or in faith and to be defeated or
delivered. G-d is the great turn arounder! He knows how to turn your situation
around and make all things work together for your good (Rom 8:28). But you
have a part to play and it begins with a choice: which side are you on?
different picture. Maybe you’re not dealing with crop failure but an empty bank
account. Maybe you are dealing with other areas of your life that are unfruitful
or where the harvest has failed. G-d wants you to turn that situation around!
You may be looking at your situation and wondering how, but G-d’s Word
shows us exactly how to do it. First, we must realize that the tests and trials of
life come to every single one of us. At some time or another, difficult times are
going to come. John 16:33 Yeshua says we will have tribulation. Then he says
to be of good cheer because He has overcome the world.
When nothing seems to be going right we need to praise G-d anyhow. Verse
18 says yet I will rejoice in the L-rd, I will be joyful in G-d my Savior. Despite our
circumstances of life, we are to rejoice in G-d. We are to delight ourselves in
G-d and His Word and not fret over our circumstances. We are to rejoice in G-
d’s goodness, mercy and abounding grace. When circumstances change for
the worse, we still can rejoice, because we’re rejoicing in our unchanging G-d!
Think of how unstable we would be if we changed our attitude and actions
every time our circumstances changed. We are living in uncertain and
troublesome times. Yet in the midst of it all, G-d does not change. And His
Word does not change. If your circumstances don’t get better that does not
change the immutability and infallibility of G-d’s holy written Word. G-d can
open the door for a better situation than you ever thought possible. But it will
be on His terms. You have to cooperate with Him and His word so He can do
it. Mal. 3:6, Heb. 13:8, Matt. 24:35, Peter 1:24-25 The word of G-d is forever
settled! It is not subject to Change! And G-d’s word is His power unto
salvation or whatever you need if you will believe. Romans 1:16 when trouble
comes and looks as if it is there to stay, you do not have to despair or be
discouraged. You don’t have to fold your hands and quit. You can rejoice in
the L-rd the G-d of your salvation. Because of Yeshua we have eternal
salvation, or eternal life. The salvation He has provided also includes safety,
preservation, deliverance, wholeness and soundness in the natural. We have
to live and function in a real world. But we don’t have to live as the world lives,
wringing our hands in despair when tests and trials arise. We have inside
information – information inside the Word of G-d! We can lift our hands and
rejoice in the face of tests and trials. The reason people waver in their
emotions, depending on whether things are good or bad, is because they have
nothing to stabilize their lives. Either they have no salvation, or they don’t
understand the salvation they have. G-d is our salvation! He is our stabilizer!
Yet when we face tests and trials, instead of rejoicing in G-d and allowing Him
to stabilize us, we often begin to question Him. And some people allow those
questions to cause them to fall away from G-d and the church. You might see
those people in church for a while but then something happens, and they drop
out of sight. They turn from the very things that will keep them steady in the
midst of a storm so they can reach the other side of that test or trial safely, with
songs in their hearts and testimonies on their lips. If the prophet Habbakkuk
were here today, he might say to you, look it’s been a bad year. You lost your
job and food has been scarce. You think you might lose everything and your
future still looks uncertain. But this is not the end for you. G-d has not changed,
and He wants to see you through. When you are in the midst of the troubles,
tests and trials remember your just passing through. Don’t pitch camp on the
troubles. Just keep on walking, rejoicing in the G-d of your salvation. Psm. 23:
4 David said he was walking through. Too many times we stop in the valley
and get devoured! Instead, we should pass through the valley of tests and
trials, rejoicing in our G-d. Focus on the positive, on G-d’s Word, instead of the
negative or the situation we’re in. We must make choices – to despair or
rejoice; to falter or stand; to act in fear or in faith and to be defeated or
delivered. G-d is the great turn arounder! He knows how to turn your situation
around and make all things work together for your good (Rom 8:28). But you
have a part to play and it begins with a choice: which side are you on?
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