. . . yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior (Habakkuk 3:18, NIV)
Does this Thanksgiving have you feeling a little less than thankful? Things are so different. Maybe you miss your family, traditions, or just the old way of life. Friend, I get it. It’s hard to be thankful when the world feels so heavy.
And this struggle to be thankful in difficult times is not unique to these “unprecedented times” we keep hearing about. In fact, the Old Testament prophet, Habakkuk, writes about the same struggle. According to biblegateway.com, “The prophet Habakkuk argues with God over God's ways, which appear to him unfathomable, if not unjust; after receiving replies from God, Habakkuk responds with a beautiful confession of faith.” Habakkuk can relate to our struggle—the questions, the fear, the confusion. He understands.
In his confession of faith, he writes “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” (Habakkuk 3:17-18).
And so, friends, though the virus won’t go away, though the world remains unjust and confusing, though society seems to be falling apart, yet we can rejoice in the Lord, we can be joyful in God our Savior.
If we can’t be thankful for our circumstances, we can be thankful for our God.
*Want to join me in meditating on God’s Word this week? Save these words as your lock screen. Write them on a notecard and place them somewhere you’ll see them during your day. Throughout the week, recite them to your kids, your spouse, or a friend. When we focus on His word, He will use it to produce results in our lives
