“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. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.”
In the movie The Goonies, Chunk gets caught in the old diner by the sea. The bad guys, the Fratellis, want him to tell them where his friends are because they know about the treasure hunt for the riches of One-Eyed Willy, and Chunk’s friends have the map. They tease Chunk while hoping they can get a confession by taunting him with his favorite thing in the world, ice cream. The look on his face when they take the ice cream away is priceless.
Life can come at you hard, and all you want is a break, a little peace and quiet, a month where everything is paid, a chance to relax and have some nachos, and watch a movie. Only to realize that you get no peace, there is more month than money, and you don’t have enough to purchase nacho supplies or the movie. You look like Chunk when they took away the ice cream. You just want to cry.
Habakkuk writes down a prayer for the final chapter of his book. It starts out with a declaration of Habakkuk telling the Lord that he is aware of all the deeds and miracles of the past. He asks God to repeat them in our day and to remember mercy in His wrath. The rest of the prayer is a catalog of the wrath of God, crumbling mountains, raging seas, and torrents of water. It sounds like our prophet was dealing with some real-life issues of the day, and no one was dancing around with sparkles, singing happy songs.
Life was tough, and he wanted to let God know that he was in it and that he was seeing all the bad stuff around him. Your life may be like this prayer. No matter if you hide or not, your life is in shambles. No one is giving you any ice cream, and the bad guys seem to have the upper hand. With nowhere to go and nothing up your sleeve, you are forced to sit and wonder how long this will go on.
The real declaration for Habakkuk, and for us, starts in verse 17. Even in the middle of nothing growing, all the crops failing, and having no animals, he declares that he will rejoice in the Lord and will be joyful in God his Savior. He also says that the Lord is his strength and that He will give him feet like a deer so that he will be able to rise above all the issues and move forward.
Habakkuk did not let the things of this world define his joy. Neither should we. Today, in the middle of life’s toilet bowl experience, declare that the Lord is your strength. Even though it seems bleak around you, trust in His provision and let your joy be defined by Him and His promises. It may take some grit to admit your current situation is not all ice cream and Coke floats, but redirect your mind to the promises of the Word of God. The joy of the Lord is your strength.
Prayer: Father, I pray and declare that the joy of the Lord is my strength! I declare that I will not look at all the mess around me or ponder in the land of lack, but I will rejoice in You and Your provision. I will seek You and find You even in the middle of the largest mess life can throw at me. I choose to rejoice in You, and You alone define my joy. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Let It Go 
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