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.
The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.
Habakkuk 3:17-19
During 2026, Peachtree Church is inviting everyone into Cultivate, a churchwide discipleship plan centered on the fruit of the Spirit and the kind of life God longs to grow in us. Throughout the year, we’ll explore how love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control take shape in everyday life through the Spirit’s work. Cultivate brings together worship, Scripture, group guides, and meaningful practices designed to meet you where you are and support growth in ways that fit your season. These twice-weekly devotionals are one way to stay connected, offering reflection and grounding for daily life with God. Whether you engage in many ways or just one, you’re invited to be part of this shared journey of becoming more rooted in who God has created and called you to be.
Devotional
Have you ever seen an empty cicada shell clinging to a tree, split down the middle of the back, the insect inside gone and grown into its new, more mature shape? Or have you come upon a snakeskin cast aside, as the snake grows and leaves its old skin behind? We don’t do anything like that as humans. Or do we?
Several times in my life, as I live through a hard situation, I realize the way I’ve been living is not going to get me through this time. I may need to eat differently, or walk more, or get to bed earlier. Or more seriously, I find I need someone to talk to about it all, or to completely change the way I approach tasks, logistically and mentally. And,most seriously, I have sometimes found that my old, childlike faith is not able to help me. My old way of understanding God is not working. My faith and my idea of God aretoo small, and I must leave them behind, like the cicada and snake left behind their old skins. I feel my faith is splitting down the middle, and it’s so painful, much worse than those growing pains I used to get in my legs as a child. It hurts to have to leave behind old ideas and strive for what is real and true. It can be very scary. I have to ask myself, “What do I know for sure?” And I begin to rebuild, with God’s help, a bigger faith for the road ahead.
Faith is meant to grow and change to be useful, truthful, and big enough for even very hard times. It needs to be big enough to support you when your beloved has cancer, or your own diagnosis is bad. Your faith should be strong enough to help you when your child goes astray or cuts you off, or when a relative or friend is declining and disappearing into dementia.
Habakkuk found this kind of faith. He stood in a bereft and empty land. But he stubbornly decided that he was not going to let go of his faith in God’s goodness even when life looked awful and the future uncertain. He says, in spite of it all, I will rejoice in the Lord; I will be joyful in God my Savior. “The Sovereign Lord is my strength” are his last words to us.
For Reflection
- Can you think of some points in your own timeline of life when you realized you had to grow and change?
- Did you have times when you figured out that your faith was not equal to what you had to face?
- Some people decide faith is not for them at such times. Was that a temptation for you?
Prayer
Dear Lord, I know You love me. I know You see me and what I am going through. Help my faith change and grow so that it can feed me and support me. Help me not to be afraid to grow up, to mature, to let you show me a better way. Give me your peace inside, no matter what’s happening in my life. “My peace I give you: not as the world gives do I give to you,” You said to your friends. Give me Your peace that cannot be taken away.
In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
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Devotionals