Our text today is from Habakkuk 3:17-18
“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.”
Habakkuk is saying, I am happy God is my God no matter what happens.
When I was a child, my mother warned me against “fair-weather friends.” You know the kind, those that are your friend only when it is advantageous to them. While we all encountered those types of “friends,” most of us have a real friend who is your friend, come what may. For that friend we would do anything.
When I consider our text for today, I see Habakkuk as one who had that kind of friend in God. I too want to be a friend of God, but not just a fair-weather friend.
Our relationship with God must not depend upon the circumstances of life. No matter what happens in life, whether rich or poor, sick or well, a friend of God will keep allegiance to God.
It is said of Abraham that he was the “friend of God.” “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. And he was called the friend of God.” – James 2:23
You might play basketball like Michael Jordan or swim like Michael Phelps, but more important than anything else is to be a friend of God like Abraham, to enjoy God like Habakkuk, no matter the circumstances.
By the way, when you are a true friend of God, you get to talk to him and he listens. That is one of the benefits to having a true friend in God.
Lonnie Davis