It was probably about thirty years ago. For my private devotions, I was reading in the book of the First (aka 'Old') Testament prophet, Habakkuk. Unusually, I was actually on my knees at the side of my bed. I was reading the third chapter. In the particular copy of the Bible that I was using, the first 16 verses of that chapter brought me to the end of a right-hand page, before continuing on the next page. It was not pleasant reading! Here is a flavour (but you might wish to read the whole section for yourself!) :
"O YHWH, I have heard the report of Thee, and Thy work, O YHWH, do I fear. ... God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. ... His brightness was like the light, rays flashed from His hand; and there He veiled His power. Before Him went pestilence, and plague followed close behind. He stood and measured the earth; He looked and shook the nations; then the eternal mountains were scattered, the everlasting hills sank low. His ways were as of old. ... Thou didst bestride the earth in fury, Thou didst trample the nations in anger. ... Thou didst crush the head of the wicked, laying him bare from thigh to neck. Thou didst pierce with Thy shafts the head of his warriors, who came like a whirlwind to scatter me, rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret. Thou didst trample the sea with Thy horses, the surging of mighty waters. I hear, and my body trembles, my lips quiver at the sound; rottenness enters into my bones, my steps totter beneath me. I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us." End of page!! You may understand that I was wondering what on earth Father God was saying to me!
Then I turned the page! What a difference! Here is what I read:
"Though the fig tree do not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in YHWH, I will joy in the God of my salvation. YHWH Adonai, is my strength; He makes my feet like hinds' feet, He makes me tread upon my high places." (Hab 3:17-19; emphasis added).
As we continue to deal with the Covid-19 virus - and its ramifications, from confinement to conspiracy theories - many are increasingly concerned at what the immediate future may hold. They are, one might say, living in the first sixteen verses of Habakkuk 3 (although, even there, there are little glimpses of hope that I omitted above!). All is doom and gloom!
May I encourage you to "turn the page" and get into vs.17-19? Regardless of what is happening around me; regardless of what the future may, or may not, hold; regardless of any conspiracy that may, or may not, exist; "... yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation."
That is where there is real hope. That is how we may face tomorrow with strength that is not our own. That is why, for the true disciple of Jesus, the future is secure. Rejoice in the Lord!
He is our Certainty in uncertain times.
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