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. -Habakkuk 3:17 & 18, NIV
People around him looked at Habbakuk as if he was crazy, as if he never quite wanted to fit with the status quo. Everyone accepted their forlorn demise, and they dressed as if death wished to take over their bodies. He never used sackcloths or burn-out ashes. He never dressed in blacks: he used bright colors that refelcted life in the sun. If only they could learn, that their pride was worth more... If only they understood the value of His love (though he never clearly understood that by himself...)
Then came the sleepless nights where he dreamed of bulky Assyrians torturing and dismembering what was left of his people. It happened before, so there was no reason for that to happen again. But his knees were spent, his eyes baggy from all of the tears. Something had to happen...
In a dream, he saw a beautiful pasture with beautiful trees and plump fruit. Animals frolicked together, and no one ever threatened to eat each other. He touch the lion, and he hugged him. He played with the piranhas, fiddled with the spiders, and ate with the raccoons. “Is this paradise?”, he thought. “Well, I want to stay here!”
A voice told him in a strong, but sweet, tender voice, “Not yet, My son: Look to your right.”
“Go there”, he said.
“But--”
“Go!”
It made no sense: why would He take Habakkuk to a place where there was nothing? Not even snakes could live there! There was no streams of living water, only used up mirages. Nothing that lived actually lived; it only died on the steaming hot soil. There were burned coconuts and destroyed palms. There was blood —or it looked like charred strawberries. “Who would live here?”, he says to himself. “I...don't...”
Then there is a gleaming, white cross. “What is that”, he says to himself. No one ever told Him: people die on crosses, not proudly display them on places where nobody will see or animals won't chew! Then he remembered: yes, there was pride, and terror, and hopeless anguish all around him. But still...All is well. Everything was dead...but all is well. Life hurts even more as it is...
But it is well.