The Lord GOD is my strength

Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines; though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food; though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord GOD is my strength, and He has made my feet like hinds' feet, and makes me walk on my high places (Hab 3:17-19).

It is always questionable to draw big conclusions from small things in Scripture. You may not want to make a statement when the backing is a single verse. Not like, say, the sin of homosexual behavior, which is repeatedly mentioned throughout or the doctrine of "saved by grace through faith apart from works" which gets lots of print. On the other hand, when a concept does get repeated, it might be a good idea to pay attention ... especially if it doesn't come naturally. I mean, for the Bible to repeat something like "love one another", most of humanity would nod and, even if they're not doing it, say, "Yeah, that's a good idea." But when it's something tougher, like the repeated claim that Jesus is God Incarnate -- something that is a paradox on the face of it -- the fact that it's said repeatedly ought to make us look close.

This passage in Habakkuk is only one of the times that this concept is repeated. One of my favorites is in Lamentations. In the middle of all his trouble (it is called "Lamentations" for a reason) he says, "My strength has perished, and so has my hope from the LORD" (Lam 3:18). That's right, a prophet of God says that. But he follows that right up with, "This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness" (Lam 3:21-23). Notice that Jeremiah does not say, "Everything is going to be alright." It's not. He has been promised that God was going to judge Judah. It's not going to get pleasant; it's going to get ugly. So what is the principle here that was in the Habakkuk passage? It is not "Don't worry; everything is going to be alright." It is "Though the world around me goes to pieces, I can rejoice because of who God is."

We tend to think, "I have something good coming." We'd likely not voice it, but we actually tend to incline toward, "God owes us." From the testimonies we hear to the Christian movies we watch to the stories we tell, it seems like we're expecting things to get better. And, based on those testimonies, the truth is that sometimes it does. Sometimes things turn out well. But Habakkuk and Jeremiah had the same attitude that Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego had. "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up" (Dan 3:17-18). God may make things pleasant for us, but even if He does not, we will serve Him. It's the same concept in Romans 8 where Paul describes that even creation is groaning under the curse, but "we know that God works all things together for good." It's not "to be pleasant", but for our best benefit. Or like James wrote when he told us to "Count it all joy when you encounter various trials," not because it will be pleasant, but because God can use it. Or when Paul told the Philippians his secret of being contented in either happy or unhappy circumstances: "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me" (Phil 4:13).

That's really the principle that we ought to be living by. Not at all the health and wealth lies of the prosperity preachers. Not even the much more popular "God will solve your problems" idea. No. The biblical concept is "I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord" (Phil 3:8) -- and that's enough. You know the phrase. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. If your treasure is pleasant living ... well, you can see the problem with that, right? But if your treasure is in simply knowing Christ, well, then, circumstances become irrelevant, don't they? And all your left with is rejoicing.