Faith and Hard Conversations

Do you ever find yourself needing to have an honest conversation?  The kind you don’t have to sugarcoat any of the hard stuff. You can throw it out there and know that it will land safely.

The kind of conversation that Habakkuk had with God.

Because God doesn’t always answer our prayers like we want.

Sometimes the tears will still fall. Our hearts will still break.

And it will take us a while before we can boldly say that through it all, God always has a plan for our good.  He never once loses sight of us or abandons us. He never stops loving His people.

Habakkuk knew the pain of watching everything he loved fall apart. He watched as God took away all he had held dear. He watched as everything that linked him to the goodness of God fail.

He knew the pain as old normals vanished and all hope was lost.

He knew the pain of having every worldly comfort stripped away.

Habbakuk 3:16 (ESV) reads,

I hear, and my body trembles;
my lips quiver at the sound;
rottenness enters into my bones;
my legs tremble beneath me.
Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble
to come upon people who invade us.

How this girl needs the book of Habakkuk.

Because sometimes, even when you know why it still hurts.

And other times, it just helps to know someone else understands.

My husband was diagnosed with MS fifteen years ago.  My prayers to see him well weren’t answered. My old normal didn’t return.  And yes, He is still sick.

For some, it will be a divorce you didn’t see coming.

For others, a loss of a loved one leaves their heart shattered.

So what do you do when God allows such loss or heartbreak? What do you do when you come to a fork in the road like that? Which road do you choose to follow? Do you continue to believe God is good, or do you wander down the road of disbelief?

As I contemplate my next steps, I decide to venture a bit further towards Habakkuk 3:17-19. The passage speaks of finding joy in difficult circumstances and holding onto hope in times of uncertainty.

Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive failand 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.

The great news is that Habakkuk 3:16, as devastating as it is to read, can never change Habakkuk 3:17-19 from being true.

“The Lord my Lord IS my strength.

And because of that, I will keep listening to His voice. I will keep following. I will keep walking. I will keep believing in a God who will walk me through to the other side of what doesn’t feel good to what ultimately will be good.

We serve a God who will never cancel His promise to lead us to the other side of all we face.

Though weeping endures for a night, joy comes in the morning. (Psalms 30:5)

And friend, there is nothing like the feeling of the SON shining on your face in the early morning at the break of a new day.

Friend, walk with me. Let’s dare to believe. Let’s keep climbing.

Let’s rejoice in the God of our salvation. Let’s celebrate the God who never leads us to that He won’t lead us through.

Let’s celebrate the God who will never plant our feet on the side of a mountain that we can’t climb in His name.

See you in the field,

Susan