Habakkuk 3:17-18 “Although the fig tree shall not bloom, neither shall fruit be on the vine, the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat, the flock shall be cut off from the field, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” Commentary: Lucifer in heaven before he and one third of the angels got kicked out of heaven complained to God that he was not God and wanted his job? The King of England centuries ago complained that in his job there was no place to go? No room for upward mobility? I wonder what his prayers would have been? God I want your job? The biggest problem in our world today is everyone wants to be God! The problem is what sins people will do to try to be God? History is littered with ash heaps of civilizations that tried to be God without God! We can be like God with the redemptive powers of Christ but we can never be God because without him there is no redemption for the sin of men! God told Habakkuk that all evil is ordained for my judgment! Redemption and judgment are done by the same God! All judgment is reserved for Christ because he took our judgment on the Cross and all that reject him receive judgment rather than redemption! So even though Habakkuk the Old Testament prophet lived hundreds of years before the birth of Christ he instinctively knew by the indwelling Holy Spirit that he would back then rejoice in the God of his salvation! The world cannot screw itself up anymore now than then but God’s salvation never changes no matter how bad the world gets! Things are so bad because it is a world trying to live without God! That is what hell is all about! God said the just shall live by faith and he will punish evil and reward the righteous! Woe unto him that increases in wealth that is not his! God has said I have spoiled many nations because of their evil! Man sins against his own soul! Woe to him that takes another nation by blood! What profits the idol worshipper? The glory of God shines through all our darkness! Then Habakkuk has a special prayer at the end of his rope! Lord, in your wrath over evil renew your mercy! Thou has come for the salvation of your people! I will rejoice in the salvation of my God! He will deliver me out of the hands of my enemies! When I am weak he is strong! I will perish pursuing sin but my trust is in his salvation! Raised from the dead unto eternal life living with my savior here on earth and then in heaven with him forever! James & Hamsa Sasse. WhoisGod.de