"His glory covered the heavens and his praise
filled the earth. His splendor was like the sunrise."
Habakkuk 3:3-4 NIV
For the past eleven months I've stirred from my sleep at 4:30 on most mornings to go walk and run with a few friends from church. By 5:45 I am back at home sitting in my chair in the living room with a Bible and a devotional book. I spend the next several minutes reading and praying.
The living room window faces east so I can watch the dark skies begin to brighten as the sun comes up. Unless the sky is completely cloudy, the sunrise is always spectacular. A perfectly clear sky allows the glow on the eastern horizon to explode into daylight. A few clouds cast streaks across the dark sky as the sun peaks around them. A sunrise is a splendid sight to see.
The prophet Habakkuk ministered to Judah's people just prior to their captivity by the Babylonians. It was a time when some looked to the Lord but many did not. Significant religious reforms put in place by Josiah were short-lived. The book of Habakkuk shows the prophet questioning God about the situation in which the Jews found themselves: threatened by and eventually captured by Babylon.
Don't you sometimes turn to God and ask, "Why is this happening to me?" That's understandable. I do, too. Then I take a look around and see God's glory and splendor in something as routine as a sunrise. The magnificent has become mundane to us because of familiarity, but when you take a closer look you'll see God's awesome power and consistent faithfulness.
Habakkuk ended his prayer with these words: "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 not cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior" (3:17-18). Pray that God will help you see his faithfulness even in the midst of trials.
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