Even if… I will rejoice.
We’ve talked about dealing with the what-ifs, today let’s look at the distant cousins, the even-ifs.
The prophet Habakkuk lived in a time when things were looking dim. Life was rough. His prophecies revealed even darker days coming as a consequence of Israel and Judah’s choices.
At the end of the book, after detailing all that would come, the prophet declares that even if life as he knows it is decimated, he will rejoice in God.
Living in a culture that depended fully on agriculture, the loss of the produce of fruit trees, vines, and olives would be devastating. If something happened that the fields couldn’t even be planted? Oh my! Then to consider the death of sheep and the loss of cattle? One’s spirit couldn’t take it all in, much less process it.
Habakkuk said that even if the fruit trees and vines didn’t produce, even if the olive crop failed, even if the fields weren’t even planted, even if the sheep died in the fields and the cattle were gone, HE would rejoice in the Lord.
Here’s what I want to point out. These trials were all in the future for Habakkuk. He was not living in them, but here he is, making the decision about what he would do when the time came.
We need to do this, too. The what-ifs send us into tailspins of worry and anxiety. The even-ifs bolster our faith and prepare us for whatever comes our way.
When we make the decision that we will rejoice in the Lord no matter what comes our way, we are better prepared for whatever comes. Rehearse it. Think about the possibilities, not in what-ifs, but in even-ifs:
- Even if I lose my job…
- Even if my spouse leaves or dies…
- Even if my car conks out for good…
- Even if I lose my job…
- Even if my child is sick…
- Even if I lose my house…
- Even if I fail…
- Even if I fall…
Even if…
Follow every one of those with, YET I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
Make the decision now so that when the need for the decision comes up later, it is already made and you don’t even have to think about it.
However you work things like this through, get started today. Turn your what-ifs into even-ifs and make your plans for whatever comes your way.
Coffee, Bible, Journal.
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