Today’s Bible Reading…
I start every morning with a little quiet time alone with God. Like a lot of people, I ‘ve been very concerned about the financial meltdown on Wall Street. This morning, I felt led to turn back to one of my favorite passages for difficult times, in the seldom-thought-of book of Habbakuk. It’s chapter 3, verses 17 through 19…
“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, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.”
Over the years, I’ve returned again and again to that passage when things have been difficult or unsettling. As I think about the words, I like to swap out Habakkuk’s troubles with my OWN problems and anxieties! “Though the 401k is shrinking and my house is declining in value while my mortgage is NOT–YET I WILL REJOICE IN THE LORD!”
If it weren’t for my faith in God, I think I’d be a lot more unsettled than I am!! Not that I expect God to step in and save AIG–or my 401k! It’s just that reading this text and others like it reminds me that there’s a bigger picture that I ought to be looking at. Whenever I take the time to take a deep breath, and think and PRAY, God really DOES give the footing that helps me climb over those difficult “high places” in my life. AMEN!