We’ve all heard the motivational phrase, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. But I prefer this iteration—when the going gets tough, the tough go for a snack. Nothing better than ice cream to sooth a troubled mind.

Habakkuk faced calamity—an invasion of his homeland—on an empty stomach. But rather than trust in his own fortitude, he turned to the One who might bring hope:

Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.

No matter how rough, (an invasion involving famine, pillage, murder, rape and enforced slavery), Habakkuk maintained his focus and devotion to the Lord. Notice that he made a conscious decision to follow Jehovah despite the hardship—I will rejoice in the Lord.

Habakkuk may be mocked and hungry and desperate and shackled, but he won’t let go. His was not a blind faith, but a tenacious one, united to and dependent upon the Lord. From this deep well Habakkuk drew far more than a meager, shuffling gait. He found joy in the Lord despite his circumstances and leapt like a deer on the mountains.

When the going got tough, the tough turn to the Lord. Despite a set of horrendous affairs, Habakkuk never lost his grip. May you and I maintain ours as well.

Habakkuk 3:17-19

Photo by Anurag Jain