THE Light at the End of the Tunnel

Habakkuk 3:16-19 NLT

I trembled inside when I heard this; my lips quivered with fear. My legs gave way beneath me, and I shook in terror. I will wait quietly for the coming day when disaster will strike the people who invade us. Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.

Those of you who have been following me on my journey through this life for any length of time know of the many struggles that I and my household, as well as our extended family, have been dealing with since the passing of my Grandmother last November, so I will not re-count it at this time. But I do want to share with you what the Lord has been showing me during this time.

We have had, and still have, serious financial difficulties. The loss of 80% of my income and a lot of unexpected expenses on top of that loss have made managing our budget impossible. But our daily struggles are nothing to be compared with the suffering of the Children of Israel under their oppressors. Yet the promises that the Lord gave to them are to us also. While we may not have physical armies encamped around our cities, we do have the minions of the enemy of our souls camped round about our hearts and minds, ever trying to distract us from His promises.

But as I read through the Prophet Habakkuk’s vision this morning, and noticed this prayer quoted above, I realized that I have nothing to fear and a lot to give thanks and praise over.

Israel had been conquered by Assyria. This raging army had destroyed all of their crops; in the fields and in their store houses. They had captured and transported most of the Israelites to foreign cities and re-inhabited their towns with peoples, slaves rather, from other gentile nations throughout their empire. Israel had no hope of returning home … no vision of God and His promises to save them. They were defeated!

And yet, Habakkuk had a vision! He saw what the rest of his people had lost sight of … so singing, he prayed. Here I quote the text from the Message Bible:

God, is it River you’re mad at? Angry at Old River? Were you raging at Sea when you rode horse and chariot through to salvation? You unfurled your bow and let loose a volley of arrows. You split Earth with rivers. Mountains saw what was coming. They twisted in pain. Flood Waters poured in. Ocean roared and reared huge waves. Sun and Moon stopped in their tracks. Your flashing arrows stopped them, your lightning-strike spears impaled them. Angry, you stomped through Earth. Furious, you crushed the godless nations. You were out to save your people, to save your specially chosen people. You beat the stuffing out of King Wicked, Stripped him naked from head to toe, Set his severed head on his own spear and blew away his army. Scattered they were to the four winds— and ended up food for the sharks! You galloped through the Sea on your horses, racing on the crest of the waves. When I heard it, my stomach did flips. I stammered and stuttered. My bones turned to water. I staggered and stumbled. I sit back and wait for Doomsday to descend on our attackers. Though the cherry trees don’t blossom and the strawberries don’t ripen, though the apples are worm-eaten and the wheat fields stunted, though the sheep pens are sheepless and the cattle barns empty, I’m singing joyful praise to God. I’m turning cartwheels of joy to my Savior God. Counting on God’s Rule to prevail, I take heart and gain strength. I run like a deer. I feel like I’m king of the mountain!

Habakkuk remembered the promises of the Lord, and so should we! For the Lord is our strength and deliverer. And if we remember that, He will become our song in the night seasons, too!

Then we can say with the Apostle Paul in Romans 8:17-21, MSG:

This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him!

That’s why I don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.

Remember: There is The Light at the end of your tunnel of hardships, too … His Name is Jesus!