When Your World Falls Apart
For many, their world is falling apart. In the first few months of our young year, a whole town has been wiped off the map by a tornado, many have lost their homes due to a fire, millions have lost their jobs, and all who have money in a retirement plan have lost thousands and in some cases millions of dollars. Because of what has happened in the stock market, instead of retiring now, some will have to work for the rest of their lives. Then, there are those who have lost a near and dear significant person in their life or they have been told they have a terminal illness.
What do you do when your world falls apart? In his day, Habakkuk was confronted with a falling-apart world. The Babylonians were about to destroy his country! Here is how he handled it: “Though the fig tree may not blossom nor fruit be on the vine; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flocks be cut off from the fold, and there 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; He will make my feet like deer’s feet and He will make me walk on my high hills” (Hab. 3:17-19).
Even though the Babylonians may destroy the fig tree, the vines, the olive trees, the fields, the flocks of the herds, Habakkuk is determined to rejoice in the Lord and his salvation. He decides he will trust the Lord no matter the circumstances or the consequences. The Lord will be his source of strength and sustaining power, enabling him to rejoice in the face of coming destruction. The Lord will give him steadiness and surefootedness like a deer. He will have such sureness of step, he will be able to walk on high hills, an Old Testament figure for victory.
Erwin Lutzer, the Pastor of the Moody church in Chicago, gives these verses a contemporary twist: “Though the stock market fluctuates, though I have just been fired from my job, and I don’t know how God is going to supply my needs; though my body is falling apart, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God is going to be my strength. He’s going to see me through this time. God is going to deliver me in the midst of the troubled that is coming.”
This is not a head-in-the-sand response to life. Being fully aware of what was about to happen, Habakkuk stared the raw reality of this world in the face and looked beyond the external world to see the eternal God. Paul had the same approach to life. When he experienced a painful thorn in his flesh, he learned that God’s grace would give him the strength to handle it (2 Cor. 12:7-10). Job did the same thing. When he lost everything including his wealth and his health, his siblings and the support of his wife, when he had virtually nothing left, he said, “Though He slay me yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15).
When your world falls apart, trust the Lord for the strength to face it and cope with it.
© G. Michael Cocoris, 4/262009
What do you do when your world falls apart? In his day, Habakkuk was confronted with a falling-apart world. The Babylonians were about to destroy his country! Here is how he handled it: “Though the fig tree may not blossom nor fruit be on the vine; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flocks be cut off from the fold, and there 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; He will make my feet like deer’s feet and He will make me walk on my high hills” (Hab. 3:17-19).
Even though the Babylonians may destroy the fig tree, the vines, the olive trees, the fields, the flocks of the herds, Habakkuk is determined to rejoice in the Lord and his salvation. He decides he will trust the Lord no matter the circumstances or the consequences. The Lord will be his source of strength and sustaining power, enabling him to rejoice in the face of coming destruction. The Lord will give him steadiness and surefootedness like a deer. He will have such sureness of step, he will be able to walk on high hills, an Old Testament figure for victory.
Erwin Lutzer, the Pastor of the Moody church in Chicago, gives these verses a contemporary twist: “Though the stock market fluctuates, though I have just been fired from my job, and I don’t know how God is going to supply my needs; though my body is falling apart, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God is going to be my strength. He’s going to see me through this time. God is going to deliver me in the midst of the troubled that is coming.”
This is not a head-in-the-sand response to life. Being fully aware of what was about to happen, Habakkuk stared the raw reality of this world in the face and looked beyond the external world to see the eternal God. Paul had the same approach to life. When he experienced a painful thorn in his flesh, he learned that God’s grace would give him the strength to handle it (2 Cor. 12:7-10). Job did the same thing. When he lost everything including his wealth and his health, his siblings and the support of his wife, when he had virtually nothing left, he said, “Though He slay me yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15).
When your world falls apart, trust the Lord for the strength to face it and cope with it.
© G. Michael Cocoris, 4/262009