Though the Fields are Dry...

"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."

Habakkuk 3:17-19

When I was younger, someone blessed me by showing me this beautiful verse. Ever since then I have loved to read it over and over again.

We will admit that there are times when we feel as if everything around us is dry and fading... when life seems so complicated, or when pain fills our hearts. There are the seasons of sorrow, and questions fill our mind, asking the Lord why He is allowing this to happen...

I know that there have been several of these seasons in my life recently, and through them the Lord is drawing me closer to Him. That is the blessed joy of those hard times... we come to learn that we cannot supply enough strength to press on. We are weak. We are weary. We are empty.

But the Lord is powerful. Mighty to save. Our fortress and joy.

Suffering is a tool that draws us to our knees, bringing us to the truth that we cannot do it on our own. The Lord is offering His strength, His joy, His love. All we have to do is accept it.

He will fill our hearts with His eternal joy, but only when we stop relying on ourselves, and begin to delight in who He is.

Our contentment should not be placed on things of this world, but on our holy and imperishable eternal home, where the King of glory sits upon His throne. He allows us to go throw these seasons to refocus our hearts on Him.

So, though the fields may be dry, the seasons painful, or the heart heavy, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. I will delight in who He is, in that He uses all things for my good and His glory, and in that He will give me His strength to live for Him. I will do these things through His power alone, for I know that I am sinful and will falter. But He is always there to pick me up, to shield me in His arms.

"Draw me closer to You, oh Lord... use what You know will humble me and fix my heart on You...

I will rejoice in You alone!"

Blessings,