Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. — Habakkuk 3:18
Several years ago, I had the opportunity to travel to northern California for work. I remember not long after I got off the plane in Sacramento, someone shared with me that the wildfires in the area I was going to were bad. I set out in the rental car toward the clinic I was visiting and soon, I saw what they meant!
All around the area, all you could see was smoke. I could see the fires raging across the hills and valleys around me. Ash was falling from the sky, and it was pretty challenging to see in many areas as I would drive. As I continued, I arrived in an area where the fires had already been. It was quite an interesting sight! All I saw around me was charred ground and desolation.
While it may have been for different circumstances, that’s what Habakkuk is describing here. He described desolation all around. There was no fruit on the vines, no meat, and essentially, it was a place of desolation. But in the middle of that desolation, he was able to praise God and rejoice in the Lord.
There are moments in our lives when we feel as though we are in desolation. Perhaps we look around and see that nothing is going right. The challenges are great, and the burdens are too much to bear. While it may look like desolation, we can rejoice in the Lord, just like Habakkuk.
Not because things are going well, but because of who the Lord is! He is the I am that I am. He is the God of our salvation. There is nothing that overwhelms or surprises Him. That is something worth rejoicing over in the middle of desolation!
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