Although the fig shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be on the vines, the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat, the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
- Habakkuk 3:17
My, my what a word. What great faith in the face of failure, adversity, anxiety, disparity, poverty and austerity. What a word for times like these.
The most talked about subject globally today is not crime, war or natural disasters, even though it is right up in your face, but the economy. Nations are at the mercy of the World Bank as they beat on the door for help in times of great need for survival. Financial groups engage in marathon debates to bail out struggling economies, for while crime only affects some of the people, it is the economy that affects all the people.
Haven't you heard that money answereth all things? Do you know what a man with a family, bare cupboards, mounting bills, rent and mortgage in arrears and no money in his pocket is apt to do? This man is a desperate man and anything can give. Ecclesiastes 10:19 declares "A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things."
The prophet Habakkuh in this opening last chapter, is calling on God to "Revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known, in wrath remember mercy."
He laments the deplorable moral and spiritual decay of the land together with injustice and violence. Heretofore Habakkuk asked God "How long will you permit violence and destruction to continue, while the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper and thrive?"
But let us go to the very opening of this Book of Habakkuk, in many cases, not widely read. He enters in with a strong voice of lamentation, "The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see. O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! Even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!
"Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? For spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention. Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.
"Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you. For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwelling places that are not theirs.
"They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves. Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat. They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand.
"And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold, for they shall heap dust and take it. Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god."
The Word of God is as fresh and relevant as the air of a new day. It is as if Habakkuk is on any popular news media of our day; and so we too, in our seasons of despair and grief ask of God, "How long will you permit violence and destruction to continue, while the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper and thrive?"
But no matter how raging the sea of crime and destruction is, and even though the financial fig tree shall not blossom, the social vines are bearing grapes of poverty and the flock of education is dwindling rather than increasing, we as children of God will continue to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness, for indeed a new day is nigh.
May God Bless you dear readers as you continue to hold the faith.
o E-mail rubyanndarling@yahoo.com write to P.O. Box 119725 SS Nassau, Bahamas with your prayer requests and comments. God's Blessings!
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