This morning as I open my bible I flip to Habakkuk and read the last few lines:

“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: 17-19a

If I take this book seriously, the bible, if I listen to it’s words and consider them as holy, then I find myself thinking “God, I can barely stand so and so, (whatever the sad story is), but the world doesn’t hinge on me, it hinges on you.  Even though I feel weak and vulnerable in this world You, Yahweh, will be my strength, you will bring me to the higher places of the soul.”  I don’t think this prophet is saying that God is his opiate, his pain is valid, crippling, painful pain.  He is not saying that he’s not hurting, he is saying that he has a God who is going to get him through this no matter what it takes.

I think that I read this today in the morning before I start my day, knowing the pain I face today, but knowing it is relatively little pain.  Understanding in the grand scheme of things the sorrow I have experienced is small today.  But reading this I know that Habakkuk has found the path of life.  I can’t explain how I know, I just have faith in my heart in this robust and deep expression of faith that is written here…  As I walk on the path of faith and pray for sanctification in the dark places of my soul, I pray for the same heart has Habakkuk.