When Our Stalls Are Empty

Today’s blog post is contributed by David Trotta:

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. (Habakkuk 3:17-18)

Have you ever gone through a season where your stalls are empty?  Maybe the loss of a job, or loss of a loved one, or loss of a friendship you cherished.  Maybe heaven is silent and you feel you lost God’s ear.

Let me ask you this - did anything change about God during those times?  Of course not.  He’s still the same.  He’s still all powerful, all loving, all knowing.

So, why do we stop rejoicing when hardship comes?  Because we love the blessings of God more than God himself.

My wife and I love to bless our grandchildren and give them the desires of their hearts.  Candy, ice cream, and watching their favorite Disney movie are all on the menu when they visit grandma and grandpa.

But sometimes that can lead them to desire the gifts from grandma and grandpa rather than grandma and grandpa.  We become an afterthought.

The same is often true in our relationship with God.  When we are in a season of plenty, we become preoccupied with things.  God becomes an afterthought.

Habakkuk understood the importance of rejoicing in God regardless of our situation.

Oh how I long for a heart like that, one that rejoices and takes joy in God during both seasons of plenty and seasons of lack.  I’m not there yet, but with God’s help, that will become the cry of my heart.

Father God, develop in us a heart that loves and delights in you in all situations, during all seasons, and is never dependent on what’s in our stalls.