I listened to a sermon today by Dr. Mark Scott on the book of Habakkuk that really got me thinking. The entire sermon was incredible, but the part that really made me think was in chapter 3 after God told Habakkuk the Babylonians were going to seize the Israelites. Because Habakkuk didn’t understand what God was doing. He didn’t understand why He was going to allow such a nasty nation to take His people captive.
But in spite of his confusion Habakkuk prayed these words: “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, YET I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”
Come to find out all the stuff about the fig tree, the grapes, the crops, the sheep and the cattle are all part of God’s original covenant with His people. So what Habakkuk is really saying is “God, even though you aren’t doing what you said you would do…YET I will rejoice in You…”
The question Dr. Scott asks during his message is so simple, even though it has faith altering implications. He asks, “Do you have guts to pray ‘yet’ even when you don’t understand what God’s doing?”
Personally, sometimes I do. But there are plenty of other times I don’t. It’s not that I don’t want to. I do. I do want to say in the midst of chaos and pain “YET, in spite of my circumstances, I will rejoice in You, I will praise You, I will trust You.”
Can you imagine how this could change our faith?
So…what about you? Do you have the guts to pray “yet” even when you don’t understand what God’s doing in your life?
Here’s a link if you would like to watch the entire sermon.