Six hundred years before Christ, a frustrated Habakkuk the prophet wrote, ‘How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.’
Habakkuk 1:2-3.
Have you too felt frustrated waiting for God to do something amid your repeated calls for help, amid a world filled with injustice, wrongdoing, violence, strife and conflict?
Don’t feel bad, Habakkuk and the people of Israel were facing the imminent invasion by the powerful armies of the Babylonians!
No wonder Habakkuk wrote, ‘I heard, and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us.’ Habakkuk 3:16.
Can you believe that, in the midst of all this, he channeled his frustration into prayers and even praise to God and wrote, ‘Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails, and the fields produce no food, though 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.’
How could he write this? Could you?
If by faith, you truly trust God, then no matter what circumstances you face, no matter what calamities come your way, God will make a way for you and keep you in perfect peace! Because, as Habakkuk wrote, ‘The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights. Habakkuk 3:17-19.
The deer he is referring to is the Persian Fallow Deer, which is found all over the middle east including Israel. It can place its back feet within an inch of where its front foot stepped, making it very sure footed, agile and able to ‘tread on the heights’ or climb almost impossible mountain terrain. This deer is a reminder that God will equip us with whatever we need to ‘tread on the heights’, to have the ability to rise above whatever seemingly impossible circumstances we may face in life and like Habakkuk, we too will be able to ‘rejoice in the Lord and be joyful in God our Savior’!
‘Fearless’ by Fulvio Spada is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
I think Habakkuk missed it! He should have referred to the Ibex pictured above which is also native to Israel! The photo shows an Ibex climbing a near vertical wall of a dam in Italy.
He puts the deer to shame! The Ibex’ unbelievable ability to climb ‘tread on (this kind of) heights’ is due to the fact that God equipped it with hooves that have sharp edges and concave undersides that act like suction cups to help them grip rocky cliffs or even the nearly vertical surface of this dam! They climb up the dam to lick salt and lichens from the stones.
To me, the Ibex is the exclamation point of all I have said in this devo. God is able to equip you for the impossible! For with God, nothing is impossible!!!
Do yourself a favor and watch the following video: ‘The incredible ibex defies gravity and climbs a dam’. | Forces of Nature with Brian Cox – BBC
This scripture…. tho the dog tree doesn’t blossom……. Yet will I rejoice in the lord…I will have joy in Him…. even in the midst of adversity!
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Waiting on Gods timing can be a very frustrating thing. We are in a world full of ‘instant gratification’ and when we are made to wait, we can lose our cool or rush things. We should all take a lesson from the Ibex. Because we are more well equipped for our journey, thanks to Gods love and wisdom, then we believe we are.
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God does not make bad choices for us. He gives us the freedom to make up our minds, and hopefully choose the correct path.
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