Faith and Joy (Habakkuk 3:18)
Habakkuk was a prophet who faced dark times socially, economically, politically, nationally, and personally. He foresaw the demise of his culture from within and without. It was in the midst of what he was being told by God that he heard the Lord remind him that pride brings destruction, but the better way is trusting in the Lord: “ Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith ” (Habakkuk 2:4). The Apostle Paul saw the same thing hundreds of years later. He chronicled the downward spiral of society, a society that pushed hard against God and so God “ gave them up in the lusts of their own heart…gave them up to dishonorable passions…gave them up to a debased mind ” (Romans 1:24, 26, 28). But before he launched into this description, he takes us to God’s message in Habakkuk, “ For in [the gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith. ”” (Romans...