Yet I Will Rejoice

Habakkuk 3:

17 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,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
    I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
19 God, the Lord, is my strength;
    he makes my feet like the deer's;
    he makes me tread on my high places.

Habakkuk had heard from God, and the immediate future did not look so bright. Tough times were coming. Yet Habakkuk begins this chapter by asking God to go ahead and bring the judgment He had announced, but to also remember His mercy.  He was able to do so by looking back on God's faithfulness throughout the history of His people.  Though he shakes at the thoughts of God's powerful judgment, he is also able to rest in the Lovingkindness of his God. He is ready and able to stand firm in His faith despite the suffering he and his people will endure.  God will give him (and us) the stability and strength to endure.