“Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines … yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” — Habakkuk 3:17–18
Habakkuk writes that with the crops failed and the stalls empty. He is not describing a rough patch. He is describing ruin — and then he says yet.
That word carries the whole text. Rejoicing because the harvest came in is not faith, it is arithmetic. Rejoicing when it did not come in is something else entirely. The message was that faith is a decision about God, not a reaction to conditions.
There was room made for the honest part, too. Habakkuk had been arguing with God for two chapters before he got here. Questioning God is not the opposite of faith — it is often the road to understanding, and God is not offended by being asked.
And a word about attention: we are quick to see what is missing and slow to count what is already in hand. Look at what God has done before asking for the next thing.
The preacher spoke from his own experience of sitting with someone he loved through a serious illness — of having no strength left of his own, and finding that when you are weakest is exactly when you run toward God instead of away. The LORD God is my strength.
Sunday, August 30, 2026 · Habakkuk 3:17–19, Psalm 23, Psalm 96
Leave a Reply