One Who Embraces

“Though the fig tree may not blossom,

Nor fruit be on the vines;

Though the labor of the olive may fail,

And the fields yield no food;

Though the flock 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.”

Habakkuk 3:17-19

These words have been of great encouragement to me and encapsulate in many ways the anthem of my year, giving voice to the things God has been teaching me.   God gave this faith to Habakkuk as his people chose to not turn to God and to continue on in a seeming path of destruction.  And it is not just faith that Habakkuk has here, but rejoicing! 

This same faith that gave Habakkuk the ability to rejoice we see in Mary as she “rejoices in the God of her salvation” while facing a hard road- a new pregnancy, being unmarried and most certainly scorned in her society.

What is the root of this heart felt cry of surrender and praise in the face of the unknown?

I loved reading a bit on Habakkuk and finding out that his name means “One who embraces” or “Clings”.  My commentary says beautifully, “At the end of his book this name becomes appropriate because Habakkuk chooses to cling firmly to God regardless of what happens to his nation.”  I also find that the Greek word for Lord God in this passage refers to the “Sovereign” Lord God.  Sovereign meaning “possessing supreme or ultimate power”.   He is able to do anything at anytime and what is the clincher here is that He is also all-loving.  He is Love itself.  Without love He could be a powerful dictator to be feared, but He is not.  And without power, He would be a weak God, unable to help us and untrustworthy, but He is not.  I too, can surrender and praise today because I am believing ultimately in His plan and goodness!  I don’t have to see change or purpose today or even in my lifetime to know that I know that I know that God is at work for good!

“The Lord knows best what is needful for us. What He does, He does for our good.  If we really knew just how much He loves us, we would always be willing to receive anything from His hand.  We would receive the bitter or the sweet without distinction.”

                                                                                                                                        -Brother Lawrence

Fullness of Joy

“You will show me the path of life.  In Your presence is fullness of joy.” Psalm 16:11

A million things beckon to me on this morning in everyday life, the dirty dishes, the piles of laundry, the stack of phone calls to return and bills to be paid… all of the list of things that I have done one million times.  And it’s not just the chores beckoning me, all the cares and needs of the people I love, a heart full of concern and burdens to give back to Jesus to carry.  I step onto our little back porch for a moment of fresh air and let the sun drench my face and I am instantly aware of His presence with me.   I close my eyes and remember the feeling well- His sun shining on my heart and all of those children’s hearts in a little mountain village in Romania.  We were there for 2 months to spend time with the orphan boys in a country that had just recently been freed from communist rule.  Our morning walk to greet the boys was often a moment that seemed otherworldly.  I can still see those little shoeless, half dressed boys, tummies empty, running at full speed toward us with a grin from ear to ear.  The sun was shining through the trees and down on us as we ran together and joined hands.  God was present there in that dancing circle of greeting and singing and rejoicing in Love, God’s love, God’s life in the now.  Heaven came down and made a stark ray of light in the midst of an otherwise dark and painful place. 

One of my favorite heroes whom you may know well, is Corrie Ten Boom, a Dutch woman whose whole family was confined in concentration camps in Germany in the 1940’s.  I cannot think of a more horrendous place of darkness and pain than this place where Corrie lost all of her family and survived Ravensbruck where more than ninety-six thousand women died.  Her accounts of God reaching down to them there in that hell and bringing pieces of joy and life and purpose are true testament to the immense power in God’s presence even in the darkest place.  Corrie’s barrack being known as “the crazy place, where they hope.”  Corrie says, “Yes, hoped, in spite of all that human madness could do.  We had learned that a stronger power had the final word, even here.”

Yes, it is this same joy, this same hope, this same living fully in any moment that I have because it is the same God who loves and lives with me.   When I fix my heart on thanking Him and being aware of His presence I am filled up and I could be anywhere with any circumstance, be it cleaning the bathroom for the hundredth time or locked in a cell, where He is I find my joy, and what good news, He is everywhere!  There is nowhere I can go from His presence.  David says, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold You are there, If I take the wings of the morning or dwell on the other side of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.” Psalm 139:7-10

Where He is, there is life, and there is always the possibility of joy.