“For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” (Habakkuk 2:3)
How could we sing a song of the Lord in a foreign land? Ps: 137:4
The Psalmist sings the exile of the people of Israel to Babylon in 587 B.C. The lament is born of grief, rage and loss. The wrenching question sung in the shadow of exile may puzzle us, unless we remember that up to this point in history, the faith of Israel had been inextricably tied to a place: the Promised Land God had given Abraham. Torn from God’s Holy Place, how could they be sons and daughters of God away from the home he had given?
Our exiles are different, but they are just as real. We grow into a relationship with God assuming certain things: I know God loves me because he’s blessed me with health, with family, with talent. What happens when illness strikes? Divorce and death? When our talents are unappreciated and ignored? In those situations, we ripped from the ground in which our faith has grown, and that is terribly difficult.
But, keeping our eyes fixed on God, we, like the people of Israel long ago, just might find a deeper understanding waiting, even in the pain of exile.
Please say: Lord, help me use the uncertainties in my life to grow in faith. Amen!
Author Unknown