When the World Trembles: What Do We Stand On?
- Guy Cohen
- May 1
- 3 min read
Harvest of Asher
Akko, Israel
This is not distant or theoretical. We are living this reality globally, today. And here in Israel we are still in a time of war.
There is fear, there is uncertainty, there is pain; and the questions are real: what holds us, and what do we stand on when the world around us is shaking?
The world we live in is driven by power – through money, gold, oil, and resources. Nations fight for control. Economies are built on profit, and people build their lives on material success. They look strong. They look stable, but deep inside we understand that material things are temporary.
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19–21).
If our heart is tied to what is temporary, then our stability will also be temporary.
The prophet Habakkuk saw a reality like ours – violence, injustice, and the power of the wicked. He trembled. He was afraid (Habakkuk 3:16). Faith does not mean the absence of fear. True faith is formed in the midst of fear. Through his lived experiences, Habakkuk received a clear revelation about the world: “Woe to him who builds his house by unjust gain…” (2:9). “Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and establishes a town by injustice” (2:12).
There are people and even nations that are established on greed, exploitation, and violence. They succeed for a time and appear strong, but within their foundation already lie the seeds of their fall. An empire built on bloodshed will crumble, and a house built on unjust gain will collapse. This is a spiritual principle. We see how relevant this is today: wars over resources, struggles for control, precarious systems.
Personally, upon what are you and I building our lives? Are we leaning on temporary things, or do we have a different foundation?
Habakkuk reached a turning point. After the fear, after seeing true reality – he made a choice. “Though the fig tree does not blossom and there is no fruit on the vines… yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in the God of my salvation…” (Habakkuk 3:17–18).
This is faith – not when everything is easy; but when all is shaking, when lack and starvation threaten. That’s when, “The righteous shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4 & Romans 1:17); and Messiah becomes our all. “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6).
We can also look ahead, and see a powerful example in Revelation 11:3 – two witnesses who will stand in a hostile world, in a time of darkness and opposition, and yet the world will not be able to overcome them. Why? Because they will stand in the calling of God, not in their own strength, but in His.
In this war, something deep is being revealed – how little we can rely on what seemed secure yesterday. This world is temporary but the one who stands on the Messiah endures forever. We are not called to run away and not to fear, but to stand. Not by our own strength, but by faith, by truth, and by our identity in Him.
Even when the earth shakes, God does not change. Therefore Habakkuk finished his epiphany with: “…God the Lord is my strength” (Habakkuk 3:19).
