When Things Don’t Make Sense
“Even though the fig trees have no blossoms and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!” Habakkuk 3:17-18
Ever feel like God is a million miles away? You pray. No answer. Or your prayers just seem to bounce off the ceiling. Where is God in the midst of your struggle?
I have been passionate about God since I first came to know Him over thirty years ago, but there was a time in my walk with God that was drier than a shallow creek in the summer. My passion had turned to dust and I wondered where God was. Or was I the one who had left? I didn’t feel like reading my Bible. I didn’t feel like praying or participating in worship. I felt like I was just going through the motions without any emotions.
During that time I had a subscription to a Christian magazine. (That was back when people had magazines delivered to their mailbox instead of their inbox.) I was a bit surprised to see an entire issue devoted to dry spiritual times. There on the cover was a picture of what I imagined the Sahara Desert looked like. I read the issue from cover to cover. It felt like it had all been written just for me, so I decided to write a letter to the editor. My letter was published the following month and one of my friends called to give me a word of advice. He assured me that God had not turned His back on me and encouraged me to embrace God in the desert.
I decided at that moment that if I never felt one warm, feel-good-fuzzy ever again, I was going to worship God because He is worthy. I pulled myself up out of the pit and began to worship God with the same passion I had before the dry times had come, but this time not because it felt good, but because God is good.
Eventually, the good feelings did return, but the words of Habakkuk have been precious to me ever since. Three times Habakkuk declares, “Even though.” Things were not going well for God’s people, but Habakkuk pressed on. “Even though the crops are failing, the fields are barren and the livestock are dying, YET I will rejoice in the Lord!” Why? Because God is worthy, even when things don’t make sense.