Habakkuk is Right On!

Habakkuk Is Right On!

Today I read a post from a nurse’s perspective and I have so much respect for those who are out there doing their job during the current situation.  She railed against people who want to get out from under the “lockdown” and buy garden plants or run in the park.  She pointed out that she had lost two patients on that particular day.  As a retired Respiratory Therapist, I have seen many people die and yes maybe more than one might pass on one particular shift.  Many times on this kind of day, I formed a perception in my mind that was not always correct.  I saw the world through this tragedy and  I resented the normalcy of the world around me.  I mistakenly felt, at times, that other things were not important.  This view makes me think of the Indian parable about several blind men who were asked to describe this animal by feeling the various parts of an elephant.  Each man described the animal by their own perspective.  The man, for instance, who felt the trunk thought one thing while the one who felt the huge leg thought another.  In this Covid 19 crisis, all of us have a different view of it.  If you are on the front lines, working in the hospital you see it one way, while the man who can’t make a living for his family has an entirely different perspective.  Small businessmen and women who can see the doors closing permanently on the business they put blood, sweat, and tears into, views the crisis even more differently.  One who has been given a diagnosis of cancer with 60% chance of survival for 5 years, might look at 98% recovery rate as pretty positive.  “Perspective”, it seems, is what is missing in this crisis.  Fear has been rampant as fear mongers perpetuate and sell the chaos.  Truth is hard to find as each one spews whatever view that suits them.  The only hope, the only peace that I find is in the Lord, who is not confused or surprised by all this.  I found a verse from the bible that I loved today from a book with the funny name of Habakkuk.

Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; 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!
Habakkuk 3:17‭-‬18 NLT

At a time when there seems to be no peace or joy, I rejoice in the Lord for my salvation and His constant care.  Praise You, O Lord, that YOU see the whole picture not just part.