In Habakkuk 3:17-18, Habakkuk speaks of barren fields and crops, dead flocks and empty cattle barns. Most of us today don’t deal with any of these things, but one thing we do have in common with Habakkuk is the choice to be content. Not only can we choose to be content, but we can choose to rejoice in the Lord no matter what our circumstances are. We can always find a reason to rejoice.
Fanny Crosby, the American hymn writer of around 8,000 hymns found countless reasons to rejoice. When she was about six weeks old, she became very sick and began to lose her eyesight. After receiving some ill-advised treatment, she lost her eyesight permanently. As she grew older, she learned what other children were able to see, but rather than become bitter, she “made up [her] mind to store away a little jewel in [her] heart which [she] called “Content.” At age eight, she wrote this song:
O what a happy soul am I!
Although I cannot see,
I am resolved that in this world
Contented I will be.
How many blessings I enjoy,
That other people don’t.
To weep and sigh because I’m blind,
I cannot, and I won’t.
It is often easier to become bitter and complain about our circumstances. Let’s face it, sometimes life just isn’t fair. But, if we look around long enough, we will find that God is always faithful even in our darkest circumstances. We, like Habakkuk and Fanny Crosby and countless others, must choose to be content and to rejoice and give praise to God, because He is always worthy.
