My eyes open. I reach over to my bedside table. I tap on the face of my phone to see the time … 2:38 a.m. Ugh. I pull the covers up to my chin and I roll over. The open tabs in my brain are shuffling. And they are loud. I try to go back to sleep.
Another check of my phone … 2:53.
Chuck is ever-so-quietly snoring. I hide under the covers so Chuck does not wake up and see the bright light of my phone. I open up the Holy Bible App. I’m starting a Bible Study in February on the book of Habakkuk. I know, like who reads Habakkuk? It’s such an obscure book in the Old Testament. It’s near the end of the OT between Nahum and Zephaniah. Yes, they are pretty obscure as well. Habakkuk has only three chapters. I read all three of them.
When I get to the 17th and 18th verses of the third chapter my heart starts racing and then it is at peace. It reads…
Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the field produces 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 3:17-18 NLT
If I had been up and moving, I would have done the Happy Day Dance.
You see, my mind reads it, but my heart interprets it.
The prayers about a certain circumstance that I have been praying about for a long time, a really long time, have not been answered. There isn’t even a bud of a promise that they will be. Not a smidgeon of a crop is evident. Not a sheep or a cow sighting anywhere. Nothing.
Photo provided
YET! I love the word YET. I will be joyful. I can still do the Happy Day Dance.
It is my choice to allow or not allow my circumstances or the people in my circumstances to rule over my emotions. Read that three times.
I am only to bring my prayers to God, leave them with Him, and have faith that He will answer them … in His timing … in His way.
So, what if I never see my prayers answered? I can rest in my faith.
It is in knowing who God is in my life because I have a history of seeing Him work in my life, that I can wait … and even wait patiently. God only asks that I bring Him my hopes and then trust Him with them. I cannot control my circumstances. No amount of worrying or staying awake can do that. Believe me, I’ve tried.
It is in knowing God, and that He is sovereign, that I can pull the covers up to my chin, turn over and go back to sleep.
Ask. Hope. Trust. Wait. Sleep.
And so, I close the Holy Bible App. It’s 3:27. The tabs in my brain have quieted. I have a few more hours to sleep and my faith will allow that to happen. I can truly sleep in heavenly peace.
“Thank you, God, for giving me rest and thank you Habakkuk for reminding me who God is in my life. Goodnight, God.”
I hear in my heart, “Good night, Janet. Sleep well.”
Janet Hart Leonard can be contacted at janethartleonard@gmail.com or followed on Facebook or Instagram (@janethartleonard). Visit janethartleonard.com.