Monday, February 9, 2009
“Yet I will…”
I am disappointed. My Super Bowl team lost (great game though). Truth is, I have been disappointed before. I whined when my high school volleyball team didn’t win the city championship. I was devastated when John Wooden’s reign was over in Westwood. I hated being just the salutatorian in Bible College. And I have always wanted to be in the back seat of a jet blasting off an air craft carrier (no way that is going to happen!).
It is one thing to be disappointed over trivial matters. It is a whole different ballgame when serious disappointment becomes devastation. In just this past week, we heard from two families at our school who’s Dads lost their jobs. One morning I got a random phone call from a lady in the area who lost her husband and is looking for a good bible study. On a different afternoon, a parent stopped me in the hallway and asked if I could call her mother and encourage her through a serious surgery. It doesn’t take long to notice that hurting people are all around us.
Disappointments abound.
And that got me to remembering a favorite passage in the minor prophet, Habakkuk. Just to set some context, Habakkuk probably preached his messages just before the Babylonians captured Jerusalem. He would have experienced firsthand the fear of a coming domination, the pain of seeing friends and family suffer through the siege, and the anguish of praying and waiting on the Lord to see deliverance.
In the last chapter, Habakkuk’s prayer is recorded for us. As you read through the verses, you can almost hear his voice rising to a crescendo. In spite of the devastation and turmoil they had all just experienced and the lack of hope for the future, listen as the preacher thunders out his confidence…
“…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, YET I WILL REJOICE IN THE LORD, I WILL BE JOYFUL IN GOD MY SAVIOR” (Hab. 3:17-18).
What a message for all of us. In the midst of everyday trials or life altering devastations, regardless of our disappointments and fear, we too must turn our eyes toward heaven and with confidence declare, “YET (in spite of whatever is going on) I WILL REJOICE IN THE LORD!”
So, if you are in the midst of “it,” go get a few 3 X 5 cards or a post-it notes and just write down “YET” on all of them Stick the cards all around the house, in the car and at work. Maybe that will be enough of a reminder to help you confidently finish off the verse…” yet will I praise Him.”
Warmest Regards in Christ,
Sherry L. Worel
Stoneybrooke Christian Schools
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