What are your prospects?
What does your future appear to be?
What dangers are lurking?
What unknowns haunt you?
What fears keep you awake at night?
The prophet Habakkuk asked those questions long before we did.
He saw invasion on the horizon.
He felt the trembling in his body.
He knew what it meant for the fig tree not to blossom.
“When I heard, my belly trembled …
Though the fig tree does not blossom,
and no fruit is on the vines;
though the produce of the olive fails,
and the fields yield no food;
though the flock is cut off from the fold,
and there is no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will exult in the God of my salvation.”
— Book of Habakkuk 3:16–18
Gently—but surely—emerging from gloom and disaster are clear words of hope and resolve.
From whispers and gasps, we shout:
“Yet I will rejoice in the LORD.”
Two Hebrew words stand shoulder to shoulder to pack a punch:
ʿālaẓ (אַלַז) – to exult, to triumph, to leap for joy.
ʾĕlōaz (אֶלּוֹז) – “I will exult,” a personal declaration.
There is no hidden code here. No esoteric nuance.
It is defiant resolve.
Habakkuk is not coping.
He is rejoicing.
He is not merely surviving.
He is abounding in joy and hopeful expectation.
The fig tree may not blossom.
The fields may fail.
But God continues to rule.
And God’s grace still bathes our lives in joy.
What If Spring Never Came?
Every year, flowers bloom with the promise of warmth and harvest.
But what if they did not?
What if the blossoms never appeared?
What if the snow never melted?
What if spring never came?
Could we still trust?
That was Habakkuk’s dilemma. In view of certain catastrophe for his people—bleak prospects, impending disaster, utter desperation—what would be the condition of his faith?
His answer was not denial.
It was not naïve optimism.
It was not spiritual anesthesia.
It was rejoicing.
TRUST: A Framework for Defiant Joy
T — Take God at His Word
If He says it, believe it—no matter what the external evidence suggests.
R — Rely on His Word
Relinquish all lesser foundations. Release your grip on false securities.
U — Understand that You Will Not Understand Everything
Mystery is not the enemy of faith. It is often its context.
S — Sing the Lord’s Song
As Israel struggled to do in Psalm 137, even in a foreign land, so we learn to praise in exile. Rejoicing in all circumstances becomes strength.
T — Travel on His Grace
As the old hymn reminds us, “We’ll understand it all by and by.” We walk forward on grace we cannot manufacture.
🔒 What Awaits Beyond the Paywall
Beyond this point, we move from inspiration into excavation.
We look more closely at:
Why Habakkuk’s declaration is not poetic exaggeration but covenantal defiance
What a careful Hebrew word study reveals—and what it surprisingly does not reveal
The historical pressures facing Judah and why this confession would have sounded almost irrational in its day
The difference between emotional resilience and theological rejoicing
A deeper set of guided reflection and discussion questions suitable for personal meditation, small groups, or teaching
If the pre-wall portion stirred something in you, the material beyond the paywall is designed to steady it, deepen it, and give it structure.
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