Remembering & Praising

August 1967

                      June 2017                                     

“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 no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior” (Habakkuk 3:17-18).

Please, allow me to reminisce for a bit.  My older daughter chose to spend a couple weeks with me on the anniversary of her dad’s death.  This is the second year and I don’t think it’s any easier than it was last year.  We decided last year to spend the day at Coopers Rock State Forest.  It’s a beautiful forest with amazingly huge rocks with hiking trails to walk among them.  This year we visited Seneca Rocks, Seneca Caverns, and Blackwater Falls.  Fifty years ago this August Wayne and I spent a couple days in that area on our honeymoon.  I had hoped we could revisit it this year.  Since we could not, I was hoping my daughters and families could plan a trip there, but schedules wouldn’t allow that.

Marianne and I, along with grandson, Braidon, spent two days exploring the sights in and around Monongahela National Forest, driving many of the same roads Wayne and I had traveled 50 years ago.  Those mountains are a wonderful example of God’s handiwork.  It was interesting to compare pictures from 50 years ago to the ones we took on this trip.  The trees were taller around the Blackwater Falls and the lodge.  A rock at the bottom of the falls was smoother on one side than it had been before. Time changes many things.  Of course the biggest change was that Wayne was no longer by my side.

These two years have been difficult and memories often bring tears.  Grief has unanswered questions, at least in this life, and I try not to spend much time trying to figure out why I’m suffering such a great disappointment.  God is still in control. Death was not His intention. His creation was pronounced  good and  very good.  It was mankind’s sin that brought death. It is God’s Son that makes life possible again.  In fact, as I mentioned in my last  blog, God planned for our salvation even before creation!

I don’t often read the book of Habakkuk, but recently it was referenced in a Bible study I attend.  Habakkuk was a prophet of God who had to tell God’s people of their impending doom due to their idolatry and disobedience.  Habakkuk knew terrible times were coming for the people, yet he chose to praise God and trust His mercy. He says, “Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy” (Habakkuk 3:2).

Habakkuk’s trust in God was amazing as is evident in the verses I referred to at the beginning.  Habakkuk is determined to rejoice in the Lord no matter what has happened or what he is lacking.   I’m not there yet. I do find joy in the Lord but not in my circumstances.  I’m still working on that and praise God He is with me and helping me through the struggle.  One day, I may be able to say, “Though Wayne no longer lives on this earth and I spend my days and nights alone, ‘yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.’”

I like the way Habakkuk closes his book.  His words give me hope and encouragement.

“The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,  he enables me to go on the heights”  (Habakkuk 3:19).