Have you ever found yourself in a difficult situation that just keeps getting worse? I know I’ve felt this way for most of this year, and you probably have, too. 2020 is providing so much content for both memes and history books as life as we know it has changed. 

This month, I’d like to revisit one of my favorite Old Testament prophets, Habakkuk. He lived a long time ago, but if we could sit down with him over a latte, we’d find we have a lot in common. 

In the short book of Habakkuk, we get to hear a conversation between the prophet and God. Habakkuk cries out to God because of the wickedness and oppression he sees around him and begs God to intervene (Habakkuk 1:1-4). Then the Lord replies: 

“Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.” (Habakkuk 1:5)

This sounds like just the answer Habakkuk is looking for, right? But then we keep reading. God goes on to say that He’s going to bring in the Chaldeans (aka, the Babylonians) and that they are even more violent and wicked than the current Assyrian oppressors. 

Wait, what?! I can only imagine the look on Habakkuk’s face as he absorbs this news. Things are bad, and they’re getting worse. 

I feel a little like Habakkuk right now – and maybe you do, too. Maybe you struggle to see God at work in your circumstances. You’ve prayed and begged and pleaded but it feels like God hasn’t shown up. 

When Habakkuk hears this discouraging response from the Lord, he reminds himself of the truth of God’s character. He affirms God’s eternality, holiness, sovereignty, and love for justice (Habakkuk 1:12-17). He trusts God to work in a way consistent with His character. 

Habakkuk 1:5 gives us this important reminder: God is at work. It’s not always the answer we’re hoping for. But our God rules over the nations and over every day of our lives. He never stops working in a way that is consistent with His character. He is faithful in all that He does. 

No matter what you face this week, God is still working even when things are getting worse. 

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You probably didn’t know this, but for the past few years, I’ve been writing these Monday devotionals for my Grandma. She turned 97 in March, and until a last year when her eyesight declined, she would read my words each Monday morning in her email inbox. 

Last Friday morning, Grandma went to be with the Lord – a place she longed to be. In her memory, I want to share this devotional from last November. I was with her the day it posted, and I read it to her as we sat at her kitchen table. It’s a treasured memory, and I’m thankful for the truth of these words. Because God keeps His promises, we do not grieve without hope. 

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I used to think I was good at keeping promises, and then I had kids. 

I want to be faithful to my word, and I try to not make promises I can’t keep. But sometimes, I start the day saying, “Sure, I can play chess with you today.” Then each of the day’s tasks takes longer than I expected. The afternoon gets longer, and my temper gets shorter. All of a sudden, it’s 5:30. I should be fixing dinner, but I’m fighting the temptation to hide in my closet with a pint of Halo Top ice cream. The last thing I want to do at that moment is sit across a chess board from a chatty 14-year-old. 

As I strive to be faithful to my promises, my trust is not in my own faithfulness – and this is great news! My faith is in the faithfulness of One who always keeps His promises. 

“God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?” (Numbers 23:19)

God is not like us. He doesn’t lie; He doesn’t change His mind. He never fails to follow through. He’s never stumped by an obstacle on His way to keeping a promise. If He says it, He will do it. Each and every one of His promises will be perfectly fulfilled. 

When God promises to help us, we can depend on His help (Psalm 121:2). When He says He will strengthen us and hold us, He can and will do it (Isaiah 41:10). When He says He will wipe every tear from our eyes, we can count on a glorious future with Him (Revelation 21:4). 

No matter what you face this week, anchor your faith in the faithfulness of your Heavenly Father. 

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My husband and I spent most of the 1990’s watching Seinfeld. (Anyone else?!) In one of my favorite episodes, Jerry arrives at the rental car counter and learns they ran out of cars. He is baffled that, despite his reservation, the company doesn’t have a car for him. He tells the employee, “You know how to take the reservation, you just don’t know how to hold the reservation. And that’s really the most important part of the reservation – the holding.” 

We can sometimes fall into similar thinking about our faith. We’ve seen the Lord work in our lives, and we know His salvation – but will it stick? What if we wake up one day to find that the hope we’ve been grasping is an illusion, and we have nothing to keep holding on to? We find this encouragement in Hebrews 10: 

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:23, NIV)

In this verse, the writer of Hebrews exhorts us to hold unswervingly to our hope in Christ. Holding unswervingly means not turning away and chasing false sources of hope. Throughout the twists and turns of life’s road, the only trustworthy foundation of hope we have is Christ and our salvation in Him. 

This hope isn’t wishful thinking, the way we often use the word “hope” in English. For a Christian, hope is confidence in the rock-solid promises of God. We can hold unswervingly to this hope because—and only because—the One who makes these promises is faithful to keep them. 

Our assurance doesn’t come from the strength of our faith, but from the object of our faith – the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. God can be trusted to always complete what He started (Philippians 1:6). His faithfulness is the reason we can grab on tight to hope and never let go. 

Counterfeit sources of hope in this world will come and go. One day you may wake up to find that the earthly hope you were grasping is gone. So instead of trying to grasp the shifting sand of this world, hold fast to the faithful One who keeps all His promises to you . . . the One who will hold you until the end. 

No matter what you face this week, hold on to the hope you’ve been given by your faithful Father. 

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