Utterly Amazing

Day 203: Habakkuk 1-3

What an interesting conversation between Habakkuk and the Lord. Habakkuk cries out to the Lord, begging for answers, wondering when he will ever respond. When will he save them? When will will he respond to the injustice, to the wrongdoing. God tells Habakkuk in 1:5,

Look at the nations and watch—
       and be utterly amazed.
       For I am going to do something in your days
       that you would not believe,
       even if you were told.

God is going to do something utterly amazing. And this something is actually a something. The Lord Jesus. He's coming to save these people. God knows it and tells his people to keep hope because this act is going to be so amazing that they wouldn't even believe it if they were told.

So Habakkuk decides what his respond is going to be. In spite of pain and suffering and the lack of justice occurring on earth, Habakkuk will trust in the Lord. He will rejoice in the Lord. The Lord is his strength, and he will be joyful in Him. What a hopeful message to all of us.

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Have you ever wondered where this first comes from? It's Habakkuk 2:20. 

The LORD is in his holy temple;
       let all the earth be silent before him.

Rejoice in the Lord!

Day 127: Psalm 115-118

"This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

This verse has special meaning to me. When I was growing up, my dad always wanted us to sing this song. We even sang it at the dinner table! And oftentimes, we sang the song in rounds with three of us singing the first part, and the other three singing the other part.

Because this song was so important to my dad, I grew up viewing this concept of rejoicing in every day as an important one, too. I've always tried to be glad and thankful for every new day and to rejoice about God's hand in it. Each day is such a blessing from God. We don't know when our last day will be, so it's important to praise God for each day that he's given us. I admit, I don't always think to do this. I take for granted that I will make it through another day and have more and more days with my family and friends. I even take it for granted that my family will do the same. I take it for granted that we will all gather together at the end of the day and enjoy our time together.

The reality is, though, that this may not happen. Families aren't always brought together at the end of the day. Some people don't come home. Just think about all those people in Haiti who died in such a tragic way. Their families didn't expect this awful thing to happen, and now they are living without people they love. What an awful tragedy. We just never know.

And I think this notion of rejoicing in the day that the Lord has made is different, but somewhat associated to, the idea of carpe diem, or "seize the day." While seize the day is about making the most of life while you are here, rejoicing in the day that the Lord has made is rejoicing no matter what your circumstances are and praising God for each new day that you have. That's a different concept entirely, and one that isn't near as easy to do. To be honest, it's really easy to forget to rejoice in the days that the Lord has made when we are at low points, when there's nothing evident to rejoice in. But that's when we need to do it most. We can still express our appreciation and gratitude to God during these times, thanking him that we still have life and that we are still blessed to live it.