![Where the Bush is Burning: A Daily Devotional by [Thomas Tice]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41u9kx4miUL.jpg)
Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may 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. The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills.
Habakkuk 3:17-19 (NKJV)
The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.
Habakkuk 3:19
From whence comes the power to rise above circumstances, and to not just survive, but thrive? We want to do more than just ‘get by’ when we encounter the hard situations in life. Shall we just make up our mind? Shall we just be ‘better disciplined’ more ‘diligent’ more ‘fervent’ more ‘thankful’ and ‘joyful,’ relying on the strength of our will? The answer to that is a resounding, ‘No.’ While we cannot rightfully ignore the admonitions of Scripture to diligence, obedience, discipline and consistency, we must confess that all our best efforts to rise above adverse circumstances by dint of our own efforts will fail miserably. Who can enable us to succeed in the face of adversity? The answer is, Christ, Christ alone. Habakkuk has been realistic. He has rightly assessed how much destitution and desolation will come upon him and upon his nation. He has resorted to the Sovereign God and the Saving Christ. He now, in our text for today, openly declares that Christ will enable him to overcome all adversities and not just survive, but thrive. He employs the picture of the deer, bounding with grace across the rocks and crags. Christ is the Great Enabler of His People. When you find your circumstances overwhelming, it is Christ who will lift you up. He will, ‘make your feet like hinds feet.’ He will ‘make you to walk upon your high places.’ Successful living is grace-filled living. Grace-filled living has Christ for the source of its’ strength. Christ enables us, who otherwise would be completely unable. He is our strength.
Our most Holy and Righteous God,
we praise You for your never failing faithfulness.
Even though we change and our circumstances may often vary,
yet You are the same, yesterday, today and forever.
Where the Bush is Burning
Tomm Tice
The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, And He will make me walk on my high hill.
Habakkuk 3:19
Habakkuk was a realist. With a clear eye, he viewed what desolations God was about to bring upon the nation of Israel. In human terms, the effects of being overrun by the Chaldeans were going to be devastating. Habakkuk was also realistic about how to maintain his spiritual equilibrium during such chaos and upset. As we considered yesterday, he declared, ‘Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.’ Habakkuk understood that the Sovereign God and the Saving Christ were his only safety and security in those impending troublous times. In our text today, he expounds and expands upon the practical effects of his making God his hope. He says, ‘The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, And He will make me walk on my high hill.’ Here is the secret of triumphant Christian living. It is the undertaking God and the empowering Christ, Who enable us to rise above our circumstances. Contrary to the popular self-help, motivational brand of counsel, which touts the power of human ability, the Scripture evermore points us to the Sovereign God and the upholding Grace of the Saving Christ. The ability to rise above our circumstances, no matter how dire they may be, arises from Christ. He it is who is my strength; ‘The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, And He will make me walk on my high hill.’ The glory for the triumphant experience over the worst of circumstances goes utterly and absolutely to the Christ who enables me. He has ever been, is now and shall ever be the Great Uplifter and Upholder of His beleaguered saints, ‘All Glory, Laud, and Honor, to Thee, Redeemer, King!’
Our most Holy and Wise God,
We praise You for Your grace and favor,
that You lift us up,
and enable us to rise above our circumstances.
Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
Habakkuk 3:18
‘When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay.’ Habakkuk could see evil days approaching for his nation. They were to undergo the chastening of God for their rejection of Him and their refusal to follow His precepts. The Chaldeans would overrun the land and absorb all its’ prosperity. There would be desolation and destitution. In the face of such impending hardships, how would such a man as Habakkuk react? Our text for today declares, ‘Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.’ Here is the response of faith to unfavorable circumstances. To summarize: in the face of circumstances being what we would not desire them to be, God is still God and Jesus still saves. Habakkuk says, ‘I will rejoice in Jehovah.’ He uses the Personal Name of the God he knows personally. His faith shines through the gloom not for the magnification of his faith, but for the Glory of the object of His faith. He goes beyond that to declare that he will, ‘joy in the God of my salvation.’ Habakkuk expresses a very evangelical hope. Hope ‘in the God of my salvation,’ is in essence hope in Christ. These confidences are the same for us as they were for Habakkuk. In the face of unfavorable circumstances, whatever they may be, God is still God, and Jesus still saves. We are able today to ‘rejoice in the Lord and joy in the God of my salvation,’ regardless of what our circumstances are. The glory goes, not to our faith, but to His Sovereignty and Saving Grace. Here is our hope for today and every day.
Our Great and Loving God,
we will give you everlasting praise,
that we have hope in you, when all other hope is gone.
You raise our eyes to look to Christ, when all around us is desolation.
Where the Bush is Burning
Tomm Tice
Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls.
Habakkuk 3:17
Habakkuk thought deeply. He contemplated the sins and error of his nation in the first chapter of the work that bears his name. He cries out to God. God’s answer to him provokes more contemplation and deeper consternation. God declares that He will raise up the ‘Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation;’ and make them the scourge to chasten unfaithful Israel. Habakkuk expostulates with God, that the Chaldeans are a people less righteous than Israel. God replies that He will eventually judge the Chaldeans as well, but that, in the meantime, He will use them to punish Israel. Habakkuk can do ought else but, ‘stand upon his watch tower,’ and wait to see God perform His Perfect Will for the nation. Obviously, the practical effects will be devastating for society in practical terms. The Chaldeans would take the food, the livestock , in short, everything that made life bearable. They would absorb all the prosperity of the land. This was the circumstance that Habakkuk, and the people around him were facing. This is what our text for today describes. This is the question it raises. When all around me is desolation and destitution, what do I have left? Where do I turn? How do I go on? The next two verses show us Christ. Circumstances may not always be as we would desire them. Having said that, let us for the next two days look to Christ, who is the answer for all our circumstances.
Our most Holy and Righteous God,
we praise You for your never failing faithfulness.
Even though we change and our circumstances may often vary,
yet You are the same, yesterday, today and forever.
Where the Bush is Burning
Tomm Tice