My Favorite Passage

I'm not fond of picking favorites.  It is not within my nature to narrow down all of my preferences to one thing (favorite color, favorite ice cream, favorite food) or one person (best friend).  I do, however, have what I would consider my favorite passage in the Bible.  There have been many verses that God has used to speak to me throughout the years, but these ones have stuck with me for many years.

Habakkuk 3:17-19:

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 He makes me walk on my high places.

What a powerful thing Habakkuk has just said!  I mean look back and think about this!  Basically he's talking about a scenario where absolutely nothing is going his way.  There is no food now, and no promise of food to come.  There is no source of income, and there is no promise that there will ever be a source of income.  

And yet, Habakkuk doesn't just resign himself to hanging on until things get better.  He doesn't say, "I'll put up with things until God changes them," or even "I know that eventually things will get better,  so I'll hang on until a better day."  Habakkuk resolves to exult God, to lift Him up and to REJOICE in him!  How crazy is that?  How many of us rejoice in God when things are going poorly?  I know that I myself have a tendency to dig in my heels and just hold on until things get better, but rarely do I see myself rejoicing through the hard times.

But I think a reasonable question to ask is WHY?  Why should we rejoice?  Do we rejoice because we love difficulty?  Are Christians masochists?  No, I don't think that's it.  Do we rejoice because whatever the bad thing is that's happening isn't actually bad, it's jut our limited perspective, and if we had God's perspective, we would realize that it was a good thing?  I don't think that's it either.  There are genuinely bad things that happen to us.  When a woman loses her infant son, I refuse to believe that this is a good thing.  We do, however, serve a good God who can take the bad things and bring good from them.  

So why should we rejoice?  I believe that the answer is given in the last part of the passage.  God is our strength.  He gives us the ability to rejoice through the suffering.  He gives us the strength to glorify Him regardless of the pain.  We rejoice because he gives us the strength to rejoice.  He gives us the strength to glorify Him, so we glorify Him for that strength.  God raises us up and enables us so that we can always turn that back to Him.  Crazy, huh?  What an awesome life we have, and what a great God to serve!