Habakkuk 3:17–19 NIV “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights. For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.”
This is the will of the Lord for His people because it reflects His own life and the way He chose to enter and move through this world. God did not come in wealth, power, and prominence, but in poverty, obscurity, and humility.
God entered history through a poor teenage girl, in a forgotten place, and was first welcomed by lowly shepherds, not kings or CEOs.
Christmas reminds Christian men that God’s rescue plan was never about earthly status but about saving us from a broken world and bringing us into a new one where He reigns and love, joy, peace, righteousness, goodness, and abundance never end.
This world remains broken: the wicked often prosper, not as God’s approval but so they might see the emptiness of their prosperity and turn to the only true source of life—eternal life in Christ.
Any message that promises health and wealth now as the norm for God’s people twists His heart and purpose; Jesus never lived a life of luxury, never made anyone rich, and regularly called the rich to surrender their wealth and the poor to work for what lasts forever.
Every man is invited to stop chasing temporary security and instead store up treasure in heaven, where reward is eternal and cannot be taken.
On this earth, there will be trouble: sin, sickness, war, injustice, spiritual attack, and personal failure all contribute to the pain and despair we feel, and while God sometimes does miracles, He does not promise to remove all hardship in this life.
Run Today’s Play: choose to rejoice in God, not in your circumstances. Whether the “fig tree” of your bank account, your health, your career, or your relationships is barren, declare with Habakkuk, “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will be joyful in God my Savior.”
Thank God out loud for who He is, not what you have; then ask Him for the strength to stand, to keep working, leading, loving, and obeying—even when you feel empty—trusting that you will see Him, live with Him, and have more than you ever hoped for when you dwell with Him forever.
