Faith in Hard TimesSample

Firm footholds

When troubles come our way, we can go to unhelpful extremes. We can throw our hands up in despair and declare the game is up. We lose hope; we sink into despair. Then again, those of a brighter temperament may put on a happy face, whistle a happy tune, and live as though the troubles don’t exist.

Neither despair nor denial do us much good. Better by far to follow the advice of this weirdly named prophet who faced deep trouble. Habakkuk squarely faced adversity. Nothing was going right. But he says one very significant word that changes his outlook. That one word is ‘yet’. It says that while the present reality is precarious, there is a greater reality: the presence of a good and loving God.

He can rejoice in that. To rejoice is to express glad confidence in God: it is not the same as happiness, which is a mood based on favourable circumstances. We can rejoice in good or bad circumstances because joy is grounded in God, not those circumstances.

The result is that we can be like sure-footed mountain goats. Things seem unpromising, yet I will stand firm. Yet I will rejoice. Yet I will through tears and laughter and through sadness and gladness hold onto the one who has hold of me.

Written by DAVID REAY