It seemed like the end of the world. In fact, in some very real ways, it was.
The Jewish nation had suffered invasions from the Assyrians, constant in-fighting between themselves, and was looking at nearly certain destruction at the hand of the Babylonians. The line of kings was turning out to be a massive disappointment with nothing to show for it except devastation.
The prophet Habakkuk tells us that the trees were bare, the olive crops were failing, the fields were producing no food, and there was no livestock. And yet, in the midst of all of this he says, “yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior” (Hab. 3:17-18).
The season of life was a disappointment.
His circumstances were bleak.
The condition of the nation was devastating.
And yet, Habakkuk praised the Lord! How?
The answer is found in his knowledge that the Lord is sovereign over all circumstances, seasons, and conditions: “The LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him,” (Habakkuk 3:20).
Our praise of the sovereign God reminds us that he is in control no matter what may come.
This is the same posture that Paul and Silas take when in the Philippian jail (Acts 16:25). Though their circumstances and condition seemed bleak in that cell, they looked at the track record of a God who raised the dead to life and figured that no matter how bad things looked in the moment, God was using “all things for the good,” (Rom. 8:28) even their current imprisonment.
Praising God in the midst of our circumstances reminds us of God’s sovereignty despite how our current conditions and seasons might appear.
Pastor Ryan Lunde
College Ministry