Living by Faith in Troubled Times

Times of relative peace and prosperity are wonderful for a society to experience, but they can never be counted on to last. Hard times inevitably come, and knowing they will, how can we be prepared to handle them? There are a number of places in the Bible that are particularly helpful, and perhaps none of them is any better than the book of Habakkuk. The prophet witnessed the decaying of his own nation during the emergence of the Babylonian empire. He called for a turning to God in faith in the midst of crumbling circumstances, that no matter how dark things might become, God would be faithful to the covenant he made with his people. “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.”