Though and don’t that seem to control our lives

Habakkuk 3:19 “Though the cherry trees don’t blossom and the strawberries don’t ripen, Though the apples are worm-eaten and the wheat fields stunted, Though the sheep pens are sheepless and the cattle barns empty, I’m singing joyful praise to GOD. I’m turning cartwheels of joy to my Savior God. Counting on GOD’s Rule to prevail, I take heart and gain strength. I run like a deer. I feel like I’m king of the mountain! (For congregational use, with a full orchestra.)”

I don’t think of myself as a pessimistic person. I am usually the one in the group that finds something good about the situation and laughs in the midst of life gone amuck, however the first part is this verse sometimes can suck the last part of the verse into a vortex that changes my focus. The thoughts and don’t moments in life. A cherry tree without its blossoms is a useless tree. If there are no cherry blossoms there is no fruit and no beauty. A cherry blossom is absolutely breathtaking. Strawberries aren’t worth much is they never ripen. Try eating a green on and you will find out quickly it’s not a luscious fruit delight! The verse continues to depress us. Wormy apples, what fields with no crop, empty animal pens and quiet barns. I enjoyed as a kid walking into the barn before milking. The cows were glad to see you, there was a comfortable smell that made the heart relax and feel good about the moment. But an empty barn meant no cows, no milk, which meant NO money. But the word though means regardless of we can. Regardless of , though, things don’t seem to be the way we want, we will praise him. Not just praise but turn cartwheels. On a good day when I was 10, I could not do a cartwheel. Yet, my heart can flip around like a yo-yo on a string regardless of what my orchard, my garden or my barn holds. Our culture emphasizes why we have and what it looks like we have. Though, regardless, I will praise. I will take heart. I will have hope that tomorrow will have meaning regardless of what things around me look like. The leaves can fall off the tree, worms eat the plants and the fences be broken and the barn door open, yet because of the God I serve who rules, I can do cartwheels for God…. love that idea now if I could only live it.