I Will Rejoice

Habakkuk 3:17-19

(17) Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls,

(18) yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

(19) GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.

This is the very end of Habakkuk and we see that he has learned a valuable lesson. He has done a 180 from his previous lament. He wondered earlier why God ran the universe the way He does. Now he realizes that God deserves praise no matter what is happening.

I'll be honest about suffering. I've never really suffered a whole lot. My senior year in high school was pretty miserable because I didn't get along very well with my stepmother. It was no fun when my parents divorced and I was in 7th grade. We had a molar pregnancy in between Lily and Noah. None of these things were good to go through.

The only one that I endured as a Christian was the molar pregnancy. Looking back, I think it was much harder on Amanda than it was on me. I think it was hard on me only in that I didn't want to see Amanda suffer so much. At any rate, it was nothing like a cancer diagnosis or losing one of our children to disease or accident.

My point is that my experience does not carry much weight, but it seems to me from the clear reading of Scripture that we are to rejoice at all times. There will be times when the fig tree does not blossom. The Christian life is not all happy-clappy joy joy. Trials will happen. I may not have suffered through the worst that this fallen world can throw at me, but I stand on the authority of God's Word that the proper response is still rejoicing.

Of course, that is impossible apart from knowing Christ. Unless we are in Christ God is just a capricious monster who pulls the wings off of flies. But if we do know Him, we can trust that God is a loving Father who knows what is best even when we don't.

iPhone Bible App

I've been using the same mobile Bible app for a long time now. In fact, I've read the whole ESV on it more than once. What I really like is the ability to do highlighting and note taking. Plus, I understand that they are working on getting syncing working between the PC and the iPhone.

You can check it out here. Olive Tree may do a few things that this one doesn't just yet, but I think that it is a nicer interface and a smoother reader.

Waiting for Judgment

Habakkuk 2:2-4

(2) And the LORD answered me: "Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.

(3) For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end--it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.

(4) "Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.

I'm having a conversation over at this blog about the nature of God's judgment and how we respond to the problem of evil. There are some obvious theological differences that I am going to have with that blog's author, but I don't think that we're too awfully far apart. At any rate, I think it is interesting to find myself in Habakkuk today in light of that discussion.

Habakkuk lamented to God about the problem of evil. He also wondered why the wicked were allowed to perish. He saw the Babylonians and wondered how God could allow such things to happen to His people. The verses above are God's response.

Basically, God is telling Habakkuk and us that we need to wait and trust in His timing. He will take care of the wicked. If we are righteous then we will have to live by faith. Of course, we are not righteous except for the imputed righteousness of Christ's sacrifice on the cross. That's important to note lest we become puffed up in our pietism.

At any rate, the answer is not that we need to understand. In fact, I don't think that we will ever really understand why things work out the way we do. I think it is foolish to attribute reasons to a Hurricane Katrina or the bridge collapse in Minneapolis. What I do know is that all deserve to die, but it is by God's common grace that we do not. I'm going to trust the God who saved me that He has a plan bigger than I can get my mind around. Besides, who wants to worship a God that he can completely understand?

God Is...

Nahum 2:3

(3) The shield of his mighty men is red; his soldiers are clothed in scarlet. The chariots come with flashing metal on the day he musters them; the cypress spears are brandished.

The Church of Oprah and other vague spiritualities like to emphasize the fact that God is love. It is true that God is loving. As I've written before, we have a hard time imagining just what His hesed is all about. We can get parts of it, but we can't really comprehend it.

This passage tells us that there is a side of God that you don't want to be on. One theory about the color of these shields is that they are red from getting bloody in battle. In other words, they remain red because the blood of God's enemies is regularly splashed on them. I'm not sure how that fits into Oprah's image of her god.

The book of Nahum is a prophecy against Nineveh. While the city did repent in the days of Jonah they turned back to their evil ways and God used Nahum to proclaim a judgment against them. God always takes wickedness seriously.

This is why it is so important to come to the cross and live. Apart from the saving work of Christ we are as doomed as Nineveh was. I'd rather be behind the warriors with the bloody shields than in front of them, wouldn't you?

Honor the Triune God

I get a daily devotional with Scripture arranged as prayer. This is a really good one. If you are interested in subscribing you can click here.

I must give honor to the three persons in the Godhead distinctly, to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, that great and sacred Name into which I was baptized and in which I assemble for religious worship, in communion with the universal church.

I adore you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, Matthew 11:25(ESV) and the eternal Word, who was in the beginning with God and was God, through him all things were made, and without him was not any thing made that was made; John 1:1-3(ESV) and who in the fullness of time Galatians 4:4(ESV) became flesh and dwelt among us and showed his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14(ESV)

And since it is the will of God that all men should honor the Son, just as they honor the Father, John 5:23(ESV) I adore him as the radiance of his Father’s glory and the exact imprint of his nature; Hebrews 1:3(ESV) herein joining with the angels of God, who were all bidden to worship him. Hebrews 1:6(ESV)

I pay homage to the exalted Redeemer, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth, Revelation 1:5(ESV) confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:11(ESV)

I also worship the Holy Spirit, the Helper, whom the Son has sent from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, John 15:26(ESV) and who is sent to teach me all things and to bring all things to my remembrance; John 14:26(ESV) who indited the Scriptures, holy men of God writing them as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:21(ESV)