Even Though

Habakkuk 3:17-19 NLT - Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vine; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the LORD! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation. The Sovereign LORD is my strength! He will make me as surefooted as a deer and bring me safely over the mountains.

My backyard used to be the Olympic Mountains in the state of Washington where we often went backpacking. It was always exhilerating to hike through the woods or by a stream or over snow capped mountains. I will never forget camping in one of the passes that we're on one of the trails. We had wanted to get over the mountain to a designated camp area but nightfall fell before we could reach our destination so the only option was to pitch our tent along the trail and wait for morning. It was very cold and wind night. Around dawn I began to hear some rustling noises outside of my tent thinking it could be a bear trying to hone in on our food and supplies. Carefully and quietly I tried to open the tent flap to see what was going on outside. To my surprise there we're about 3 or 4 mountain goats chewing on our boots that we had left outside of the tent (for smell purposes). As I yelled at them to move on they all started to scatter up the mountain as one of the goats grabbed a boot as a souveneir. Before you know it they we're halfway up the mountain with one of our boots. It was absolutely amazing to see them move so quickly and with so much grace. We eventually retrireved the boot but I learned a lot of lessons that day about hiking and about life. First – about hiking – don't leave your boot outside – ever! It's hard to walk without shoes. Second – just as those mountain goats we're able to scamper up the mountain when they sensed danger – so God has enabled us to be like a surefooted deer when life is pushing us down. He gives us the means and the way to escape. He leads us and guides us to a place of safety. Today we need to rejoice in our Sovereign God and trust Him that he will always take care of us.