By Trevor Bradley
Sometimes we create scenarios in our minds as to how we will react if adverse, or need I say pleasant, circumstances come upon us… For example – “if I have a huge windfall, I will give to that person…that charity…that ministry”. Very few of us can foresee or anticipate the sudden “storm”, “hurricane”, “tragedy”, or “collapse” in our lives. At times we look at the misfortunes or mishaps of others and we silently believe that we are immune.
Though it may not happen (and who can tell), how will I react when does? What is my anchor, my bulwark, my haven, my harbor? There’s a beautiful verse tucked away in
Habakkuk 3 vs 17: “Though/when…the fig tree does not blossom…And there be no fruit on the vine. Though/when…the olives crops fail…and the fields produce no food.
Though/when…there be no cattle in the stalls…and there be no sheep in the pen”.
Hear the prophets heart. He is saying that there are no certainties in one’s life,save death and taxes..But he had already determined how he would handle, react to the “side-swipes” that life can dish out
If we look, we will see that what the prophet saw was a man/family who had IN HOPE, planned, planted and sowed. And what they had reaped was disappointment… for they got nothing in return. We see that their assets had been either sold or had been stripped away. They were without any nest egg, it was all gone, and what they faced was devastation and nothingness.
But listen to the prophet’s heart, “PRAISE GOD. YET WILL I REJOICE IN THE LORD, THE GOD OF MY SALVATION, FOR HE IS MY STRENGTH”
“God I know that you know, that you see, that you are near, that you care. And no matter what befalls me, I will not allow the devil to rob me of my joy, steal my calling and destroy my faith. I will trust you no matter what. I will sing as Horatio Stafford wrote ” It is well, it is well, with my soul.” Write your eternal words on our hearts Lord, and give us grace to believe that you are the God of all grace, the God who is a loving Father and our all powerful redeemer and saviour. You will never leave us nor forsake us.
Give to us new songs in our hearts , that our mouths will be full of praise and thanks to you who is our all-sufficient God, the God of more than enough. That even though we may not be experiencing the winds of adversity nor the sea of heartbreak, when they do come we will be ready to rejoice in You our strength and the God of our salvation.
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