Habakkuk 3:17-19
Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.

Strength is not found in material possessions or our abilities. In fact, there are times when those things are stripped away. Inadequacy may be the reality, but fear doesn’t have to be the result.

Today’s passage is one of my favorites. It shoots down the prosperity teaching that promises a tenfold material return on my giving. Sometimes the fig tree does not bud, vines are fruitless, crops fail, pens and stalls are empty. That’s reality, isn’t it? However, there’s another reality. Even when I am going through a tough stretch, “yet I [can] rejoice in the Lord! I [can] be joyful in the God of my salvation!”

The fear of inadequacy is thwarted when I realize that “the Sovereign Lord is my strength.” In the face of an impossible situation, an impasse, God enables me to “tread upon the heights.” God gives me all I need to climb my personal pole of doubt. With God on my side, I don’t have to fear fruitless vines, empty stalls, or cropless fields. God plus nothing else is more than enough to quash my anxious heart.

Father, drive this truth deep into my fearful heart. Help me keep my trust settled in you alone. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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