Skip to main content

Navigating the Storms

Today I've been reading Nahum and Habakkuk. Both of these prophets have short letters written. Nahum is strong and positive in his outlook. Yes, Israel and Judah have suffered, been invaded, exiled and scourged, but those who did this (Assyria) will get their due and Israel will be restored. If we were living during this time we'd be tempted to salute and applaud Nahum's words.
Habakkuk is more troubled. He is asking God the questions we all ask - WHY? Why is this all happening? Why is God allowing the troubles and even (seemingly) ignoring the pain?
Most of us have had times where we found ourselves in the "storm" and didn't know whether or not we'd make it out. That storm can be physical pain, disease, financial problems, even political confusion, but the nature of each is the confusion, the endless thinking about what to do next, the sense of lostness - can't find the way out.
Navigating storms is an art. Habakkuk leads us through this and comes to a conclusion that is worth our remembering when our own storms occur. In the final chapter, he states:

"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!
The Sovereign Lord is my strength!
He makes me as surefooted as a deer,
able to tread upon the heights.
(Habakkuk 3:17-19 NLT)

Our prayers are not unnoticed and our faith is not in vain. We pray and we hope because of the character of our God. We cannot stop the storms but we can take shelter where it is safe to ride it out.

Peace

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Comments

paul said…
E, My business is in kind of a storm right now. We are in desperate need of sunshine to get some things painted. The storms of life come, but God's faithfulness is bigger than I can imagine. If I have food to eat and clothes I am content.(1 Timothy chap. 6 I believe?) To cling to anything else than God's word is a usless practice that usually leaves one tired and frustrated; at least that is what I have found. Until I learned (and I am still learning) to trust God and "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness", I did not have much peace in life. I can't live well without his word, no matter how hard I try.
June 22, 2011 at 3:44 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wednesday, Day 25: Christmas Eve - God Loves Us (So We Can Relax)

For Kids: There’s a lot of things we have to do each day. Get up from our sleep, Get dressed, Eat Breakfast, Get ready for School, Listen to the teacher, play with friends, eat our lunch, and after it’s all done, go back home. There’s time to play, Then we eat our supper… And eventually we have to get ready for bed and go to sleep! And then we do it all over again the next day. Sometimes there’s a vacation - like right now - and we get more time to play, to have fun and not have to do work at school. Our parents are good at helping us know what time it is and what we need to do next – even when we don’t want to move on to the next thing.  God is also good at helping us know what time it is, and what is next.  He doesn’t shout at us, or yell, or even scream…he does it peacefully, quietly.  He wants us to understand that he does it, most of all, for us. Christmas can be quite busy and there’s lots of things going on at once…but l...
Post a Comment
Read more

Joy to the World - Help is On the Way

It’s the first day of Advent– while you prepare for Worship this morning at church take a minute to ask God to direct you through this season that you might be prepared to “receive your King”. In the first week of Advent we celebrate the PROMISE of His Coming. His promise is based on our need. We were made in his image, but there is emptiness in our soul that is the result of the Fallen nature of sin. But why did Jesus come? What in his coming announces God's heart? His desire for us to know and experience? 10 BUT THE ANGEL SAID TO THEM, "DO NOT BE AFRAID; FOR BEHOLD, I BRING YOU GOOD NEWS OF GREAT JOY WHICH WILL BE FOR ALL THE PEOPLE; 11 FOR TODAY IN THE CITY OF DAVID THERE HAS BEEN BORN FOR YOU A SAVIOR, WHO IS CHRIST THE LORD. GREAT JOY! Did you know that God is Joyful? 1 CHRONICLES 16:23-27 (NASB) 23 SING TO THE LORD, ALL THE EARTH; PROCLAIM GOOD TIDINGS OF HIS SALVATION FROM DAY TO DAY. 24 TELL OF HIS GLORY AMONG THE NATIONS, HIS WONDERFUL DEEDS AMONG ALL THE PEOPLES....
46 comments
Read more

Wondering Out Under the Stars

A Reading: Colossians 1:9-20 (NIV) 9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether th...
28 comments
Read more