“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 go on the heights.”
(Habakkuk 3: 18 – 19)
I am at the stage now where my mobility is not good, and I need to use a walking cane to balance me and even then, I can become quite unsteady. Just recently I was invited to a birthday party which was going to be held in a garden. The garden was spacious, and the weather was beautiful, but I was still very nervous about my walking ability. I was anxious that I might stumble and fall over, embarrassing everybody including myself, but help was at hand. One of my daughters, who is strong and much taller than me, assured me she would be with me at the party. She said that I could hang on to her and she would steady me. That is exactly what happened, with her being my strength I could safely walk and enjoy the party.
One of my Bible studies was about the prophet, Habakkuk. When I read the above quote, I realized that the Lord had arranged for me to have his strength on the day that I needed it. I was surprised that some references to Habakkuk say his name in Hebrew means “to cling”. What a beautiful picture that conjures up for us, as God’s children to know we can cling to him in any sort of stress we are encountering.
Habakkuk was living through a very turbulent time in Judea, they were surrounded by enemies and morale was very low and yet he could write these amazing words.
“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vine, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food and 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.” (Habakkuk 3: 17 – 18)
Paul realized this truth when he was writing to the Philippian believers, and he wanted to impress upon them that it was only through the Lord’s strength that he was able to persevere.
“I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4: 13)
There is no shame in needing strength. We often imagine foolishly that it is a sign of weakness to ask for help. In fact, my own children often say to me, you must ask us for help when you need it. We are always ready to help you and we must remember that is exactly what our Heavenly Father is saying to us. Ask and you will receive!
One of my favorite songs we sing at our church has this beautiful line.
The weak made strong in the Savior’s love.