I’m a pessimist. It means I quickly jump to negative conclusions about how stuff in my life will play out. If I’m struggling to do something, I’ll feel like an awful person who can’t do anything right.

It’s easy for me to imagine how the prophet Habakkuk might have reacted to what God showed him. He had good reason to give up after God showed him the coming troubles for the people. Things really did look bad: no fruit, no meat and no comfort.

His words make me feel down and hopeless until he wakes me up again with a small three-letter word: yet. “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord” (HAB. 3:18). Despite all the hardships he knew were coming, Habakkuk found reason for rejoicing simply because of who God is.

We sometimes overreact or make our problems out to be worse than they are—but Habakkuk actually faced some extremely bad times. If he could still praise God in those moments, perhaps we can too. When we’re caught up in our problems and issues, we can look to God who lifts us up.

By: Kirsten Holmberg

To Pray About . . .

Father, You are the reason for all my joy. Help me to fix my eyes on You.