Devotional: March 9, 2026

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

Do you remember that scene in Gone with the Wind where starving Scarlett returns to Tara and scrabbles in the dirt to find something to eat? (The empty fields and vines in the above Scripture reminded me of her). She screams to the skies, “As God is my witness, as God is my witness, they’re not going to lick me. I’m going to live through this and when it’s all over, I’ll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill. As God is my witness, I’ll never be hungry again.”

Scarlett was never all that curious about the workings of her world or her faith, and so she doesn’t scream out to God, why did this happen to me? Why don’t you do something to fix my life? What she falls back on is a vow of personal effort. She is going to be the hero of her own life. The best thing in her speech is that she doesn’t wantany of her folk to suffer either. She only mentions God because she wants God to witness her vow. She doesn’t ask for God’s help, she just asks God to listen to her own plan. We probably should not use Scarlett as our hero of faith.

Instead, let’s look at the prophet Habakkuk. He writes around 605 BC in Judah, and his name means wrestler. He is famous as the prophet who speaks to God for the people(most other prophets receive a message from God to tell the people). The talking and pleading Habakkuk does is to God throughout this book. Unlike Scarlett, he calls on God to do something for his people. He wants to hear God’s plan. Judah is subject to an evil king, Jehoiakim, and his wealthy cronies. “Justice never prevails!” Habakkuk tells God. He says, “God, your people are crying out for help, how long must they wait?”

And then God says the unthinkable: “Oh, I hear you. To answer your question: I’m going to raise up the Babylonians, and they are going to lay waste to Judah.”

Habakkuk must have thought, “I’m thinking you are doing this to judge our kingdom, which I guess I did ask for, and it is only right. But I hope I didn’t hear the plan correctly.”

But God truly did mean to execute justice on all that is wrong in Judah, using the Babylonians. God sees all the evil in Judah in detail. God sees the theft, the violence, the unjust gain, the murders that his people are guilty of. What Habakkuk cried out to God about, God already knows and plans to bring righteous judgment on it all.

Habakkuk hears the fierce warfare that God will inflict on Babylon, and he finds himself shaking in his boots at the thought of the way his powerful God will defeat the Babylonians. God will have used them as a cleansing agent in Judah, and then he will crush them utterly. Habakkuk says he will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the Babylonians.

For Reflection

When we call on God to judge a situation, do we have our own ideas about how God should do that?
Can you remember a time when you asked God to correct a problem in your life and it was corrected, but not the way you wanted?
Habakkuk had his vision of God’s power and the scope of his faith greatly expanded. Was that easy or painless for him?

Prayer

Dear Lord, I think I know what You ought to do for me and for mine. I tell You what I think You should do. And then You do it Your way. When I realize how powerful, how sovereign You are, I stand in awe. I have my earlier, simpler faith suddenly expanded, and it hurts to let go of what I thought I knew about You. But I want to have a durable faith that can outlast hard times. Don’t let go of me, and I won’t let go of You.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.