Before I go to that Scripture I have a couple other thoughts to tie in with it. We were talking about faith in our adult SS class this morning. What is faith? How does it work? Trust was mentioned as a synonym. We talked about faith needing to be placed in God, not in self and not merely faith in faith. But what can we trust God for? Can we trust Him for whatever we think we want or need? That's not biblical faith. We have faith that God can do anything, but it isn't biblical faith to say we believe He will do whatever we want. Rather, I believe faith is believing in what God has promised us. If He has said it, we can believe it. If He hasn't said it we can't expect it.
So what can we trust God for in this economic crisis? Having sold our house in Alberta to move here and not needing to buy a house here because the church had a house for us, we have some money for the first time in our lives. But that's not money to waste. We will need to buy a house again at some point in the future. So that money has been put into the money markets to grow. Terrible timing! The past year and a half has been dismal for such investing. On paper at least, we have lost a considerable portion. Where will it end? Can we trust God to come through for us and spare us this loss? Can we trust Him to protect our money and make it grow? I don't see any such promises or guarantees that we can count on. Rather we need to trust God Himself to do what is best for us, to teach us to depend on Him alone. That's where this Scripture from Habakkuk fits. I want to declare with the prophet(even though I struggle with it at times):
"Though the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail, and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold, and there be no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will exult in the Lord. I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and He has made my feet like hinds' feet and makes me walk on my high places." Habakkuk 3:17-19
Dave
1 comment:
I really like that passage. I go through moments in my life, and I say moments because that's literally how long they last sometimes, when I think that it would be nice to be able to live without the worry of material things and to focus solely on worshiping and ministering for God. Then I go back to my laptop or television or vehicle and on with my life. But what if it wasn't my choice and God allowed these things to disappear? Could I still rejoice in Him? I would like to think so, but . . . . I try to remind myself that this world is temporary and I need to be prepared for an eternal world. this will be a life-long struggle no doubt.
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