Live By Faith

LIVE BY FAITH

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 may 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.
Hab. 3:17-18 (NKJV)

If these verses were being written today, they may sound like this:

“None of the fruit trees have produced. Crops have not yielded enough food for even the farmers to eat. Their livestock are starving to death. Trucks have nothing to deliver and stores have shut down. Yet, we rejoice in the Lord.”

Such faith seems hard to find. Habakkuk did not always have this strong faith. In chapter one, he is crying out to God about the evil in Judah. God did not answer Habakkuk in the way he expected. Instead of sending a revival, God was allowing the Chaldeans to invade Judah and judge them. Isn’t that true of us also? We expect God to answer our prayers one way and we cannot understand it when He doesn’t.

We must also trust in God when things do not seem to make sense. Like Habakkuk, we must let our faith increase.

In Matthew 17:20, Jesus speaks of having faith like a mustard seed, one of the smallest seeds. He did not mean that we should be satisfied with little faith, but that our faith should grow in the same manner that the mustard seed grows. It grows into a huge plant. Lord, increase our faith and May we remember, “the just shall live by faith” (Hab. 2:4).

Lord Jesus,
I understand that faith means I trust You without doubting. Forgive me when I doubt or I become afraid. The events surrounding me are frightening, and I want to trust You the same way that Habakkuk did. Please increase my faith! Thank You, amen.

DIG DEEPER
Read the little book of Habakkuk.

HIKING THE TRAIL
What is the one thing that doesn’t make sense in your life right now? Pray, asking God to increase your faith so that you can trust Him to handle it even if it never makes sense to you.

Copyright 2012 Carolyn Dale Newell.

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