Of all the many things I do that irritate my wife, known and unknown, near the top of the list must be her persistent complaint that I don’t listen to her. Not to squirm out of that responsibility, but I fear that many wives would have the same lament. It may be that she wants my help with something. But of greatest urgency for her is that I pay attention to what is happening in her life and showing that I care about her situation. She needs me to resonate emotionally with what she is going through.

How frustrating to imagine that God is ignoring us. The prophet Habakkuk concluded that he was getting a divine brush-off, and he had the nerve to hurl a testy accusation against his Creator: “How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?” (Habakkuk 1:2). From our vantage point millennia later, we know that everything turned out well for the believers. But at the time, stuck in the middle of their fears and dilemmas, the people didn’t know that.

As Habakkuk reflected on the Lord’s mighty deeds of the past and pondered his words and promises, he grew in his ability to trust his Father. His little prophecy ends on a happier note: “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” (Habakkuk 3:18,19).

So—do you have deer feet today?