Joy - even in difficult times!

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.

Lest we forget.

This afternoon, in my capacity as a Strathclyde Police Force Chaplain, I had the honour of again conducting the annual Remembrance Day service at the Memorial to Officers of the former Lanarkshire Constabulary who exchanged their police uniforms for military ones, and died in either the Great War (1914-18) or in World War II (1939-45). 

As far as I know the Memorial, which is situated in the grounds of the Sheriff Courthouse, in Hamilton, is unique in Scotland in remembering only police officers who paid the ultimate price for the freedom that, in spite of the political correctness and State interference that surrounds us, we still enjoy in this country.

The brief Reflection that I brought to the gathering of, mostly, members of the Retired Police Officers Association of Scotland, was based on the prayer of the Old Testament prophet, Habak'kuk, and found in the 3rd chapter of the book that goes by his name.  The background to the prayer is one of national crisis - just as this nation faced the crises of the two World Wars, of many conflicts since, and even the financial crisis that effects all of us today.

The prophet saw, all around him, moral and spiritual decay.  Injustice was rampant with the rich getting richer, and the poor suffering more and more.  The law appeared to be powerless.   YHWH appeared not to care about the plight of His people.  And no, I didn't lift that from one of today's newspapers - although I could well have done!

Habak'kuk was concerned that YHWH was allowing these things to happen.  However, the response that he received was less than encouraging!  He was told that the approaching Babylonian (Iraqi) armies were, in fact, YHWH's means of judging His people for their sinfulness.  This response is accepted by the prophet - not as one beaten into submission, but as one who recognises the Sovereignty of the only true God.

It was that acceptance; that recognition; that willing surrender; that led Habak'kuk into that prayer - a prayer of worship.  His circumstances hadn't changed, but he had, and he was now walking by faith, and not by sight.  And what had changed him was the same set of spiritual disciplines that will change you and change me - prayer, vision, and faith.  We may respond to crisis situations in at least two, totally different, ways.  We may complain; seek to lay the blame at the doors of others; feel sorry for ourselves, and ask "Why me?" (I recall someone saying that it might help if we asked, "Why not me?!).

Such a response, I suggested, does nothing other than leave us in the pit of despair.  Or we may choose - and it is a personal, and conscious, decision - to follow the example of this oft-neglected Old Testament prophet.  The 17th verse of that 3rd chapter paints a word-picture of total financial and material disaster - a Wall Street crash; inflation at the levels that used to be seen in Zimbabwe!  But in the following verses, the prophet shows where his trust is placed.

On this Day of Remembrance, many of us have recalled the carnage and death in two world wars, and in countless other military conflicts.  We  have stood with those to whom today has been especially poignant because their loss, their memories, are so personal.  May we recognise that not every crisis involves physical battles, injury, and death.  And, as we face our personal crises, today and every day, may we be encouraged by the experience, and teaching, of Habak'kuk.  May we know the wonderful grace of God; may we be granted a glimpse of the glory of God; may we willingly yield to the government of God in our individual lives.