Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour 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. The LORD God is my strength. – Habakkuk 3:17-19
When several things in life seem to go wrong at the same time, I sometimes think of that humorous saying that goes something like this: “They said, ‘Cheer up; things could be worse.’ So I cheered up, and sure enough, they got worse!”
One year at camp meeting, I heard a Christian perspective how to react to accumulating problems. A friend told me that shortly before camp, it had seemed that everything was going wrong. He had some major problems, including that his wife had been diagnosed with a serious health condition, and his motor home had developed an expensive problem just when they were preparing to come to camp. But my friend did not end his story there. With his big, infectious grin he added, “Although my first thought was that ‘everything’ had gone wrong, in actuality not everything is going wrong, just four or five things. Everything else is great.” The bottom line was that he had Jesus in his heart—which was worth more than all of his problems put together.
Since hearing that testimony, I have thought often of his words, “Not everything is going wrong, just four or five things. Everything else is great.” When problems start mounting in my life, I realize that they are not really all that crucial. Maybe the car has a problem, or the gutter has begun to leak—these are hassles, not grave concerns. Why be worked up over the four or five things that are going wrong? Why not rather dwell on the positive: “everything else”?
On the other hand, sometimes heavy issues do come our way. There could be a threat to our employment, health, lives, or loved ones. At times like these, we know God has power to miraculously resolve our problems, and we also realize it may be His sovereign will not to do so. This is also not a time to become down-hearted. When God allows hardship in our lives, we can still follow the words of today’s focus verse and “joy in the God of my salvation.”
Regardless of what we may be going through, the words of Habakkuk fit. Even in the worst of circumstances, we have every right to rejoice in the Lord. He will solve our problems as only He can.