LOOKING BEYOND THE "GOODIES"
Though the fig tree do 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 joy in the God of my salvation. Hab. 3:17, 18, R.S.V.
A number of popular media preachers today are offering a quickly accepted brand of religion. They are boldly asserting that God's plan for every one of His children is that he be wealthy. Not just comfortable, but outright rich! Those who are not rich, they suggest, must not be following the formula earnestly enough. Prosperity, to them, is not only a sign of God's favor; it becomes reason enough in itself to serve God.
Though this kind of blatant materialism seems crass in its most overdrawn form, we have to admit to finding it in lesser forms on other occasions. A hailstorm flattens our crops, and we say, "Lord! Why me? What have I done to deserve this?" A loved one dies an untimely death, and we protest, "But, Lord, he was a good man!" We so readily see God as a wealthy dispenser of material and physical blessings to all who serve Him. And when we serve Him, yet are not blessed, we feel cheated.
Habakkuk protested directly to God, complaining that Israel hadn't been all that bad as to deserve the Chaldean invasion that God had foretold. Even as a prophet, he still wasn't immune from the reward-punishment scheme so commonly held by his people. To him, something was wrong with God's plan not to bless the nation. So he complained. (See chapter 1.).
The Lord's answer to him was surprising. He did not say that a righteous person lives by, or even for, His blessings. Rather, "the righteous shall live by his faith" (Hab. 2:4, R.S.V.). The truly righteous person is one who is attached to Him, not to the blessings He can bestow. He trusts God because of who He is, not because of the way God hands out that which man would call blessings.
When Habukkuk saw this larger picture, one that looks beyond the "goodies" we humans crave for our security, his own faith grew. His closing testimony was that, regardless of what happened to his personal "creature comforts," his confidence in God would remain firm. He would rejoice, not in the Lord's blessings, but "in the Lord" (chap. 3:18).
Though the fig tree do 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 joy in the God of my salvation. Hab. 3:17, 18, R.S.V.
A number of popular media preachers today are offering a quickly accepted brand of religion. They are boldly asserting that God's plan for every one of His children is that he be wealthy. Not just comfortable, but outright rich! Those who are not rich, they suggest, must not be following the formula earnestly enough. Prosperity, to them, is not only a sign of God's favor; it becomes reason enough in itself to serve God.
Though this kind of blatant materialism seems crass in its most overdrawn form, we have to admit to finding it in lesser forms on other occasions. A hailstorm flattens our crops, and we say, "Lord! Why me? What have I done to deserve this?" A loved one dies an untimely death, and we protest, "But, Lord, he was a good man!" We so readily see God as a wealthy dispenser of material and physical blessings to all who serve Him. And when we serve Him, yet are not blessed, we feel cheated.
Habakkuk protested directly to God, complaining that Israel hadn't been all that bad as to deserve the Chaldean invasion that God had foretold. Even as a prophet, he still wasn't immune from the reward-punishment scheme so commonly held by his people. To him, something was wrong with God's plan not to bless the nation. So he complained. (See chapter 1.).
The Lord's answer to him was surprising. He did not say that a righteous person lives by, or even for, His blessings. Rather, "the righteous shall live by his faith" (Hab. 2:4, R.S.V.). The truly righteous person is one who is attached to Him, not to the blessings He can bestow. He trusts God because of who He is, not because of the way God hands out that which man would call blessings.
When Habukkuk saw this larger picture, one that looks beyond the "goodies" we humans crave for our security, his own faith grew. His closing testimony was that, regardless of what happened to his personal "creature comforts," his confidence in God would remain firm. He would rejoice, not in the Lord's blessings, but "in the Lord" (chap. 3:18).
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