Yet, I will Rejoice in the Lord!

The following two scripture passages are favorites of mine, because they portray what steadfast faith really looks like. As long as we live under the sun and within the tent of skin called body,we cannot escape anxiety, doubts or despair, when disappointment, failure, and loss come our way.

It is in such times, these scriptures come alive and speak to me what true faith looks like. If I say, I trust in the Lord, then I need to truly trust Him irrespective of the circumstances. For me to do that, I need to be firmly rooted like the tree planted by the river Prophet Jeremiah speaks of, or be like the farmer Habakkuk writes about.

In Jeremiah 17:7-8. the prophet beautifully puts it in the following way.
Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord
And whose hope is the Lord.
For he shall be like a tree
planted by the waters
Which spreads out its roots by the river
And will not fear when heat comes
But its leaf will be green
And will not be anxious in the year of drought
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.


Prophet Habakkuk, who might stand smaller and considered minor in comparison to prophet Jeremiah, goes even higher to illustrate a man of steadfast faith as follows:

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.
Habakkuk 3:17-18


In the Message version, Eugene H Peterson paints the above scenerio in our
day an age setting for easy understanding.

Though the cherry trees don't blossom
and the strawberries don't ripen
Though the apples are worm-eaten
and the wheat fields stunted
Though the sheep pens are sheepless
and the cattle barns empty
I'm singing joyful praise to God
I'm turning cartwheels of joy to my Savior God.

Can you imagine yourself in the shoes of the farmer who had lost all his crops, sheep, and cattle, yet chooses to not to give into despair, but to rejoice in the Lord instead.

How awesome could that be such faith in God's eyes! Everything you've hoped and worked for to flourish have vanished like an illusion. Yet, the farmer seems unaffected by the turmoil. How? Because that man puts his trust in the Lord and not on the things he possessed.

Jeremiah calls the man blessed, because his hope in not what he has or what he gets in the future; His hope is the Lord. So, when he faces adversity or financial dryness, instead of panicking and wasting his time in worry, he looks up to God with hope. Because he had experienced God's faithfulness in the past, he had learned to face the future with confidence.

What a testimony would it be, when we, who claim to have faith in God display such faith in times of loss and turmoils. I pray that we stand worthy to be called such men and women of faith Jeremiah and Habakkuk write about in their books.***