No Matter What, I Will Rejoice

Habakkuk 3:16-18

Everyone imagines what they would do if they had unlimited money or time. They fantasize of trips that they would take and shopping sprees that they would go on. Then reality kicks in and we see more bills than we do income, and not nearly enough hours in the day. We keep waiting for circumstances to change and for that golden opportunity to come along and make everything better. In short, we have no time to rest, for there is too much to do.

In light of these things, when we hear someone teaching or preaching on resting in the Lord, we often tune out because rest seems impossible. Jesus fell asleep in the boat with His disciples, and seemed content to snooze right through a terrible storm. It was not the circumstances that woke Him, but the panic of His beloved disciples. When He calmed the storm with a wave of His hand and a simple command, He asked where their faith had gone. The reprimand has more to do with their lack of rest in terrible circumstances than it does anything else.

Jesus knew how to rest, even when life was pressing Him. Habakkuk wrote of how believers should, “rest in the day of trouble” (3:16). If we are always waiting to rest in Christ until circumstances are perfect, then we will always be waiting. In the world we find rest when the waters are calm. In Christ, you rest and that calms the waters. Christ is not a responder; He is a Creator!

It takes a resolve to rest. The author of Hebrews encouraged the church to “labor therefore to enter into that rest” (Hebrews 4:11). When you arrive at this place, you can rejoice in God’s goodness no matter what happens around you.

Habakkuk writes that though the fig tree stop producing; though the vines yield no grapes; though the olive tree give no oil and the crops refuse to grow, “Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation” (Habakkuk 3:17). This is quite a resolve, to give God praise and glory even if everything around you fails. In troubled economic times, you and I can have a peace in our heart, for we know that all else may fail, but Christ Jesus cannot fail.

Notice the word ‘LORD’ and its capital letters. The author is using “Jehovah” in Hebrew, which means “covenant keeper”. It is his way of pointing the reader back to the one who drew up the Covenant. God is faithful even when we are unfaithful. God is good, even when things are not.

As you look around you today, you may not see much reason to rejoice. Rejoice anyway! God is good and His love endures forever. Your salvation is in Him, and when you labor to enter into His rest, the storm and the waves cease for you.

Then Came Amalek

Exodus 17:8-13

This passage chronicles the only fight that Israel had between Egypt and Sinai. Once they go under the Covenant of Law they are found fighting constantly, but here, while still under the Abrahamic Covenant of promise, they have one fight that defines the position of the believer under God’s grace and favor.

Israel arrives at Rephidim, which is “resting places” in Hebrew, showing us the place of rest that we have in Christ. Immediately, Amalek comes to fight with Israel in the resting place, which makes sense due to the fact that Amalek comes from the Hebrew root word “amal” meaning “worrisome labor; pain”.

The chief fight for the believer is not against Satan or the forces of the darkness of this world, but it is against “worrisome labor”. In a nutshell, our battle is to enter into the “resting place” while everything around us tells us to worry and work. The Apostle Paul knew this when he instructed the believer to “labor therefore to enter into that rest” (Hebrews 4:11). This is the token statement in the entire New Covenant where Paul tells the believer to labor for anything. Isn’t it interesting that our one labor is to stop laboring?

Moses sends Joshua into the valley to confront the Amalekites while he goes to the top of the mountain to stand with the rod of God. Moses understood the symbolism of the rod, as it had been held up to part the waters of the Red Sea, signifying God’s arm of strength. With the arm of God fighting for Israel, Moses knew that they could not lose. As long as the covenant keeper was lifted up, there would be victory then, and if we hold up covenant now, the victory is ours through the covenant that Jesus made with His Father at Calvary.

No matter how much we know about covenant and grace and God’s goodness and kindness, as we labor to enter into rest, our own works will most likely become involved. Moses’ hands began to grow heavy (Exodus 17:12) as a sign of our own works growing more and more wearisome. Though we know the answers, sometimes we falter and fail in their application. We need something more to help us than our own knowledge and intelligence.

“There remains therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into His rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His” (Hebrews 4:9, 10). This is not to insinuate that you will not cease from your works until you enter into His rest, but rather that you will not enter into His rest UNTIL you cease from your own works. When the hands grow heavy, it is time to sit down, just as Moses did. Look at what he sits on, and who helps him:

“But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up His hands” (Exodus 17:12). Moses sits upon a stone, which is the solid rock of Christ, which Jesus said if we build our house upon, it will stand during the storm (Matthew 7:25). Aaron and Hur are a type of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, holding up our hands. In this position, the believer is off of their own feet and being supported completely by the finished work of Jesus. Only here will we see victory in our valleys, when we are resting on the mountain.

One final note: the word “steady” which describes how Moses’ hands remained until the going down of the sun is the same word in Hebrew as “faith”. Let your faith rest on the perfect, finished work of Jesus until the setting of your sun, when you meet Him in glory.

No Matter What, I Will Rejoice

Habakkuk 3:16-18

Everyone imagines what they would do if they had unlimited money or time. They fantasize of trips that they would take and shopping sprees that they would go on. Then reality kicks in and we see more bills than we do income, and not nearly enough hours in the day. We keep waiting for circumstances to change and for that golden opportunity to come along and make everything better. In short, we have no time to rest, for there is too much to do.

In light of these things, when we hear someone teaching or preaching on resting in the Lord, we often tune out because rest seems impossible. Jesus fell asleep in the boat with His disciples, and seemed content to snooze right through a terrible storm. It was not the circumstances that woke Him, but the panic of His beloved disciples. When He calmed the storm with a wave of His hand and a simple command, He asked where their faith had gone. The reprimand has more to do with their lack of rest in terrible circumstances than it does anything else.

Jesus knew how to rest, even when life was pressing Him. Habakkuk wrote of how believers should, “rest in the day of trouble” (3:16). If we are always waiting to rest in Christ until circumstances are perfect, then we will always be waiting. In the world we find rest when the waters are calm. In Christ, you rest and that calms the waters. Christ is not a responder; He is a Creator!

It takes a resolve to rest. The author of Hebrews encouraged the church to “labor therefore to enter into that rest” (Hebrews 4:11). When you arrive at this place, you can rejoice in God’s goodness no matter what happens around you.

Habakkuk writes that though the fig tree stop producing; though the vines yield no grapes; though the olive tree give no oil and the crops refuse to grow, “Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation” (Habakkuk 3:17). This is quite a resolve, to give God praise and glory even if everything around you fails. In troubled economic times, you and I can have a peace in our heart, for we know that all else may fail, but Christ Jesus cannot fail.

Notice the word ‘LORD’ and its capital letters. The author is using “Jehovah” in Hebrew, which means “covenant keeper”. It is his way of pointing the reader back to the one who drew up the Covenant. God is faithful even when we are unfaithful. God is good, even when things are not.

As you look around you today, you may not see much reason to rejoice. Rejoice anyway! God is good and His love endures forever. Your salvation is in Him, and when you labor to enter into His rest, the storm and the waves cease for you.

Then Came Amalek

Exodus 17:8-13

This passage chronicles the only fight that Israel had between Egypt and Sinai. Once they go under the Covenant of Law they are found fighting constantly, but here, while still under the Abrahamic Covenant of promise, they have one fight that defines the position of the believer under God’s grace and favor.

Israel arrives at Rephidim, which is “resting places” in Hebrew, showing us the place of rest that we have in Christ. Immediately, Amalek comes to fight with Israel in the resting place, which makes sense due to the fact that Amalek comes from the Hebrew root word “amal” meaning “worrisome labor; pain”.

The chief fight for the believer is not against Satan or the forces of the darkness of this world, but it is against “worrisome labor”. In a nutshell, our battle is to enter into the “resting place” while everything around us tells us to worry and work. The Apostle Paul knew this when he instructed the believer to “labor therefore to enter into that rest” (Hebrews 4:11). This is the token statement in the entire New Covenant where Paul tells the believer to labor for anything. Isn’t it interesting that our one labor is to stop laboring?

Moses sends Joshua into the valley to confront the Amalekites while he goes to the top of the mountain to stand with the rod of God. Moses understood the symbolism of the rod, as it had been held up to part the waters of the Red Sea, signifying God’s arm of strength. With the arm of God fighting for Israel, Moses knew that they could not lose. As long as the covenant keeper was lifted up, there would be victory then, and if we hold up covenant now, the victory is ours through the covenant that Jesus made with His Father at Calvary.

No matter how much we know about covenant and grace and God’s goodness and kindness, as we labor to enter into rest, our own works will most likely become involved. Moses’ hands began to grow heavy (Exodus 17:12) as a sign of our own works growing more and more wearisome. Though we know the answers, sometimes we falter and fail in their application. We need something more to help us than our own knowledge and intelligence.

“There remains therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into His rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His” (Hebrews 4:9, 10). This is not to insinuate that you will not cease from your works until you enter into His rest, but rather that you will not enter into His rest UNTIL you cease from your own works. When the hands grow heavy, it is time to sit down, just as Moses did. Look at what he sits on, and who helps him:

“But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up His hands” (Exodus 17:12). Moses sits upon a stone, which is the solid rock of Christ, which Jesus said if we build our house upon, it will stand during the storm (Matthew 7:25). Aaron and Hur are a type of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, holding up our hands. In this position, the believer is off of their own feet and being supported completely by the finished work of Jesus. Only here will we see victory in our valleys, when we are resting on the mountain.

One final note: the word “steady” which describes how Moses’ hands remained until the going down of the sun is the same word in Hebrew as “faith”. Let your faith rest on the perfect, finished work of Jesus until the setting of your sun, when you meet Him in glory.

No Matter What, I Will Rejoice

Habakkuk 3:16-18

Everyone imagines what they would do if they had unlimited money or time. They fantasize of trips that they would take and shopping sprees that they would go on. Then reality kicks in and we see more bills than we do income, and not nearly enough hours in the day. We keep waiting for circumstances to change and for that golden opportunity to come along and make everything better. In short, we have no time to rest, for there is too much to do.

In light of these things, when we hear someone teaching or preaching on resting in the Lord, we often tune out because rest seems impossible. Jesus fell asleep in the boat with His disciples, and seemed content to snooze right through a terrible storm. It was not the circumstances that woke Him, but the panic of His beloved disciples. When He calmed the storm with a wave of His hand and a simple command, He asked where their faith had gone. The reprimand has more to do with their lack of rest in terrible circumstances than it does anything else.

Jesus knew how to rest, even when life was pressing Him. Habakkuk wrote of how believers should, “rest in the day of trouble” (3:16). If we are always waiting to rest in Christ until circumstances are perfect, then we will always be waiting. In the world we find rest when the waters are calm. In Christ, you rest and that calms the waters. Christ is not a responder; He is a Creator!

It takes a resolve to rest. The author of Hebrews encouraged the church to “labor therefore to enter into that rest” (Hebrews 4:11). When you arrive at this place, you can rejoice in God’s goodness no matter what happens around you.

Habakkuk writes that though the fig tree stop producing; though the vines yield no grapes; though the olive tree give no oil and the crops refuse to grow, “Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation” (Habakkuk 3:17). This is quite a resolve, to give God praise and glory even if everything around you fails. In troubled economic times, you and I can have a peace in our heart, for we know that all else may fail, but Christ Jesus cannot fail.

Notice the word ‘LORD’ and its capital letters. The author is using “Jehovah” in Hebrew, which means “covenant keeper”. It is his way of pointing the reader back to the one who drew up the Covenant. God is faithful even when we are unfaithful. God is good, even when things are not.

As you look around you today, you may not see much reason to rejoice. Rejoice anyway! God is good and His love endures forever. Your salvation is in Him, and when you labor to enter into His rest, the storm and the waves cease for you.