Habakkuk 3 Devotional

Joy Without a Harvest

“Though the fig tree does not bud and no fruit is on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the sheep are cut off from the fold and no cattle are in the stalls,”Habakkuk 3:17 (BSB)

Habakkuk's book ends in prayer. He asks God to renew his mighty works in their own day and to show mercy even in his anger (3:2). Then he pictures God coming in power: mountains shake, sun and moon stand still, and the LORD marches out to save his people and his anointed one (3:3-13).

Habakkuk is honest. His insides tremble and his lips quiver, yet he resolves to wait quietly for the day of trouble to come on the invaders (3:16). Then comes the great turn. Even if the fig tree has no buds and the vines no grapes, even if the olive crop fails, the fields yield nothing, and the flocks and herds are gone, he will still rejoice in the LORD, the God who saves him (3:17-18). His joy does not rest on the harvest. It rests on God himself, who gives him strength to walk on the heights (3:19). Because God does not fail when crops do, that joy is open to you on lean days.

To think about: If the things you count on were stripped away this year, what would it look like to find your joy in God himself?