No Buds and Grapes
It was Springtime and our yard wasn’t looking its best. If not for the weeds, there would be no green “grass”. Our azaleas, usually the glorious picture of home and garden magazine material were cut back in the Fall, maybe a little too much, and the few blooms that remained were to be quite honest, pitiful. The deer had trimmed some of our other shrubs down to nubs. And, the pollen was so thick, our nostrils collapsed with one breath.
As I surveyed the scene, Habakkuk 2:17-19 came to mind-
“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce 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. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, and he enables me to tread on the heights.
Yes, surveying the landscape, I realized our “fig trees” had no buds. There were no “grapes on the vines”, and our “olive crop” was an obvious fail. Thankfully, Harris Teeter was still open with “sheep in the pen and cattle in the stalls.”
But then the “Yet” came to mind. It was Spring and there was still hope. Yet we would rejoice! Rain would come and wash the pollen away. The azaleas were tough and would rebound for next year, and even the deer can’t totally destroy the hearty shrubs in the bed!
Things appeared dim in our little part of the earth just as the circumstances did in Habakkuk’s time but God does not change and God who was faithful then is the same God who is faithful today. He is faithful in all of our circumstances. Life can be full of barren fig trees, empty grapevines and olive crop fails. Life can be tough and can seem so dim, so hopeless. But God does not fail us and He does not forget us. He is our strength at all times, good and bad, and He will enable us to continue on.
Our hope is sure and our future is secure when our trust and confidence is in our Sovereign Lord and because of Him we can say “Yet I will rejoice!” If your fig trees have no buds and your vines are empty and your olive crop fails, Be encouraged. Better days are coming!
“Through the Lord’s mercies were are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” Lamentations 3:22-24 (NKJV)
