M-G: 1.19.11 // Markers, Habakkuk 3:18

Nobody in their right mind forgets their birthday. For some of us of another generation, it was the day we received our first spanking as well! We don’t remember, but it was said that the doctor slapped us on the bottom to cause us to take our first breath of air, and we haven’t stopped crying about something ever since then. They don’t practice this technique anymore with deliveries, but I am here to tell or remind you that the non-slapped cry about everything, too!  This is what happens when we seek joy in what we think are the right circumstances.

Not everyone who has received Christ as their Lord and Savior remembers their exact spiritual birthday; January 19, 1976, 10:43 AM is mine. Everybody’s spiritual delivery experience is not the same. Some are quiet and uneventful, and some are very emotional and have an incredible journey to Christ. Unlike our spiritual birth, we don’t know, during the delivery, what our mother went through to bring us into the world. In the new birth everyone being delivered into the kingdom of God knows that the birthing process is the same, by grace through faith and not of works. We know this birth was made possible only through the death of Christ on the cross for our sins. By faith in the sacrifice that satisfied the just demands of God the Father, we have become a new creation!

The day we received Christ is a marker in our lives; a marker is an event that irrevocably alters our direction in life; a new normal was born; nothing will be the same. Markers are not easily forgotten, whether good or bad. Receiving Christ is the greatest Marker we will ever encounter! Since markers are not limited to a positive experience, markers also come about through negative circumstances. 

When the Babylonians invaded Jerusalem in Habakkuk's day, for instance, it was a dark marker for him. But unlike all the other markers in our lives, this new birth is the most significant – the day Jesus came into our hearts. Since real joy is not found in circumstances; the worst of circumstances can only have a negative impact on our joy if we allow it. Because of the prophet Habakkuk’s love for God, his joy transcended some really terrible circumstances. 

With foreign invasion comes death, destruction, misery, and disruption of everything - all joy robbers. A new normal was in town in Jerusalem, no one’s life will ever be the same with Nebuchadnezzar’s visitation. But Habakkuk’s response to this malignant marker was unlike what you might expect – “I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” A literal rendering of this would be,

“‘I will jump for joy in the Lord; I will spin around for delight in God.’ Here is the hilarity of faith! — joy at its best with circumstances at their worst! What a victory! May it be ours” (Baxter, BBC on Habakkuk 3:18)!

Our spiritual birthday is a marvelous marker that should never be forgotten: a time of joy, a reminder of Jesus’ great gift of salvation, and the joy that flooded our souls on that wondrous day when heaven became our home because our sins were forgiven. Whether any January 19th is a good or bad day, sunshine or rain, joyful or sorrowful, it is still the day of my deliverance from the bondage and penalty of sin. I will rejoice and be glad in it. This is my birthday wish to you; I pray you will feel the same way about yours, not just on our very special day, but on every day given to us by the Lord! <><