The Power of Yet

The Power of Yet

“Yet I will [choose to] rejoice in the Lord;
I will [choose to] shout in exultation in the [victorious] God of my salvation!
The Lord God is my strength [my source of courage, my invincible army];
He has made my feet [steady and sure] like hinds’ feet
And makes me walk [forward with spiritual confidence] on my high places [of challenge and responsibility].” (Habakkuk 3:18-19, Amplified Bible)

Yet. The tiny but powerful word that Habakkuk uses to indicate his choice to rejoice. Habakkuk is a tiny, three-chapter, book of the prophets in the Old Testament. At first glance, it seems to be full of doom and questions about God’s goodness. Basically, it’s a downer. Habakkuk learns that God is going to punish Judah, and he will use a bigger and more ungodly nation to do the punishing. War, famine, starvation, and all the things that accompany a national takeover are in Habakkuk’s future. He wonders why God is using evil people to punish Judah, and if the evil nation will be punished. He also learned that God would eventually deal with the evil nation. Habakkuk seems overwhelmed with emotions. He starts his prayer trembling and ends with rejoicing. He makes the choice to rejoice. He knows terrible things are coming, worse than you or I will probably (and hopefully not) ever see in our lifetimes. Nevertheless . . .even still. . . YET, he praised God. Amos B. Walls shares an analogy about opals that aptly describes Habakkuk’s response:

Hold the opal up to the light, and it has nothing but a yellowish tinge. . . Let me tell you the secret of the opal’s beauty. The stone is filled with fissures — minute rifts in its substance, too small to be seen by the eye, yet not too fine to be seen by the light. These fissures catch up the light, beat it back and forth between their sides, and break it up into its constituent colors, very much as a prism would do. And so the stone, out of what might seem to be a flaw or blemish, draws its wonderful crown of beauty. Have you ever seen opalescent men and women?. . . Christians make the very shattering of their body, and the flaws in their fortune, a trap for God's sunlight They catch in these clefts of misfortune the rays that come from heaven. They toss them back and forth and from side to side of their seamed and fissured lives, and lo! we see them glowing with a beauty far more wonderful than any opal of earth, or any rainbow of heaven. (Walls, 2011)

What was Habakkuk reflecting off of his misfortunes (present and future)?

1.      That God was his salvation.

2.      God was his strength.

3.      God would give him confidence, peace and steadiness to overcome adversity.

Habakkuk remembered that God has already won! Salvation and eternity are sure, and the trials of earth are temporary. He also realized that God would provide him strength, confidence and steadiness to face the challenges ahead. This is the power of yet. Yet takes the situation and says “nope, this isn’t over” in this case, he chose to trust and rejoice!

            Frozen 2 has a relevant song that the Princess Anna sang after she realized she was going to have to do something that was right, but it came with great personal cost, just after she lost everyone she loved.  In the last part of the song she sang:

I won't look too far ahead
It's too much for me to take
But break it down to this next breath, this next step
This next choice is one that I can make
So I'll walk through this night
Stumbling blindly toward the light
And do the next right thing
And with the dawn what comes then?
When it's clear that everything will never be the same again
Then I'll make the choice to hear that voice
And do the next right thing. (Anderson-Lopez & Lopez, 2020)

Habakkuk could have easily sung those same words. When you are overwhelmed and joy seems far away, almost mythical, there are a few practical things you can think about and do to help yourself overcome.

·         Take one step at a time. Choice by choice, do the next right thing.

·         Remember: God is going to give you the strength to make those little choices and get through the challenge. It’s supernatural.

·         Remember: Eventually, it will pass. God is your salvation.

·         Breathe, bathe, eat, take care of yourself, even when it seems too much, or not worth it. Give yourself a fighting chance.

·         Pray. A LOT. Say little prayers all throughout the day.

God does sometimes allow more than we can handle (that’s how we grow) so that we will rely on his strength, just as Habakkuk did. Joy is a mental battle. Banish negative thoughts. Replace them with verses of truth. Start with Habakkuk’s praise. Choose to use the misfortunes to reflect the beauty of God’s light. Choose the power of yet.

Dear God,

Please help me to remember to choose the power of yet: to trust You and rejoice in You even when things are hard. Please give me your strength and help me to take one step at a time to face the day. Thank you for leading me and giving me your confidence and steadiness to confront my problems.

         Amen.

Stay Joyful,

Emma 😊

References

Anderson-Lopez, K. and Lopez, R.  (2020) “The next right thing.” Performed by Kristen Bell as Anna. Disney. https://www.disneyclips.com/lyrics/frozen2-the-next-right-thing.html.

Holy Bible. (2015) Amplified Bible (AMP). CA: The Lockman Foundation.

Walls, A. B. (2011) Constant joy. The Biblical Illustrator. Biblesoft, Inc. Electronic Database.
https://biblehub.com/sermons/auth/walls/constant_joy.htm.