Daily devotional · May 12
Rejoicing Without Results
“Though the fig tree does not bud and no fruit is on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the sheep are cut off from the fold and no cattle are in the stalls, yet I will exult in the LORD; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation! GOD the Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like those of a deer; He makes me walk upon the heights!For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments.”
Habakkuk pictures a worst-case harvest: no figs, no grapes, no olives, empty fields, and empty stalls. That is a farmer's nightmare, the loss of everything a household depends on. Yet the prophet ends the book with a startling choice: I will still rejoice in the Lord. His joy is not built on circumstances turning out well. It rests on who God is, his strength and his salvation, which he compares to feet made sure like a deer's on steep ground. This does not deny pain, and the book is full of honest complaint. It shows that grief and trust can sit in the same heart. Today, think about what looks empty in your life right now. Tell God plainly how it feels, then name one thing about him that has not changed, and thank him for that one thing.
Prayer
God, even when my fields look empty, you are my strength. Teach me to rejoice in you and to be honest about my pain.