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, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. 19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.
The sovereign Lord is involved in the affairs of life and is fulfilling His greater and overarching purpose in filling the earth with His glory. God did not want to only let Judah see His glory, but all the nations of the earth with the angels and with the Spirit world until Satan himself falls into defeat with no other words to say than, “Yes, Jesus is Lord over all.”
God does not have strings attached. He wants us to see His power, the only One who can shake the earth and make nations tremble. He wants us to see its His time not our time and He is eternal.
Before I went on a short-term mission’s trip to India, I was inspired the pioneer missionary William Cary. He who worked for 40 years near Calcutta since 1793 without a furlough. He was a brilliant linguist, translating portions of the Bible into over dozen India languages.
One afternoon after 20 years of faithful labor all his work went up in smoke. A fire raged through his printing plant and warehouse. All his equipment was destroyed. Many of his precious manuscripts were gone; 20 years of translations were now ashes with nothing to show for it. How would you respond to something like that? “Why O God? How could you do this to me O Lord?”
He wrote a letter to his friend quoting Ps. 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God.” It principally dwelt upon two ideas. 1) God has a sovereign right to dispose of us as He pleases. 2) We ought to acquiesce in all that God does with us and to us.”
Carey looked to God and said, “It is you O Lord, I serve. If it is the manuscripts I work for, it is lost; if it is the people I serve, they are gone; but if it is You, I serve, and that is your will, then may I continue another 20 and do as you will. Clinging to God through storms to say if God wanted me to work these years for him then it is a delight even if no one else sees the works of my hands. Is it enough to do it for him?”
Habakkuk learned he could make it through the hard times by praying, faith, trust in God, and allowing God to strengthen him to face the days of hardship.
A deer is swift and surefooted and can scamper up hills and mountains to find the “high places” of safety and freedom. When we rely on God for strength, He will make our feet like the surefooted deer.
Application: Friends, focus on what God is doing! Remember Who we follow. Give God all your praise!
Prayer: In Your time Lord, In Your time. You make all things beautiful in Your time. I trust You Lord.
