We all go through trying times. In our region of the country, we are in the midst of a drought unlike anything I have seen in my lifetime. There is talk of water rationing for the farmers and prices on all things escalating in the very near future. In fact, we have already begun to see higher prices at the grocery store and other places. I was in a meeting last week in which a speaker told the group that we could expect the cost of electricity in our homes to double as of January 1st, due to the fact that the EPA has passed a law that will prohibit the company from generating electricity by burning coal.
In our own community, the local government struggles daily to make ends meet. There are a couple of big ticket items that are a constant drain on the budget and there is just no money to do some things that the city needs to do. Things here in our small west Texas town look pretty bleak!
It would be easy to curl up in the fetal position and give up. Things don’t look good. In fact, if one continues to focus on these negative realities, hope can be lost.
But I ran across this passage this morning in Habakkuk. Chapter 3 verses 17-19 say this:
17 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, 18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
19 The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.
When faced with trying times, we need to remember the source of our strength and the joy. If our focus is on our situation, we will always face the possibility that we will lose hope and joy because trying times come to all of us. But if our focus is on God, we will have contact with the source of all joy and hope.
Be blessed today!
Clay in the Hands 
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