Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation (Habakkuk 3:18 NKJV).

Have you ever driven at night on a road you have never traveled before? Your headlights illuminate only a short distance ahead. Beyond that small circle of light is darkness. You cannot see the curves in the road, what lies beyond the next hill or what might be waiting around the next bend. Yet you keep driving. You do not have to see the entire road to continue; you only need enough light for the next step.

There are seasons of life when faith feels much the same. We want God to illuminate the entire road ahead. We want to know what is around the next bend, how long the darkness will last and where the road will eventually lead. But sometimes God gives us only enough light for the next step and asks us to trust Him with the rest.

The prophet Habakkuk understood that kind of darkness. His nation was facing the terrifying prospect of invasion by the Babylonians. Violence and injustice troubled him, and God revealed that even more difficult days were coming. Habakkuk could see the storm approaching, but he could not see how God would ultimately resolve it.

By the final chapter of his prophecy, Habakkuk describes what life might look like when the devastation arrived: “Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls” (Habakkuk 3:17).

It is difficult to imagine a darker picture. The crops have failed, the vineyards are empty, the fields produce nothing and the livestock are gone. Habakkuk is not pretending everything will be fine. He is looking directly at circumstances that could easily destroy his hope.

Then comes one of the most remarkable words in Scripture: “Yet.” Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation (Habakkuk 3:18). That single word reveals the heart of Habakkuk's faith. He does not rejoice because his circumstances are good. He rejoices because God is good. His confidence does not rest on what he can see but on whom he knows.

We sometimes confuse faith with optimism. Optimism says, “Things will probably get better.” Faith says, “Even if they don't, God is still faithful.” Habakkuk had reached the point where the loss of his crops, livestock, security and prosperity could not take away his confidence in God.

That kind of faith does not come from having all the answers. Habakkuk did not receive an explanation for everything that was about to happen. Instead, he learned to trust God's character when he could not understand God's plan. Habakkuk concludes, “The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills” (Habakkuk 3:19). He does not say that God will remove every mountain. He trusts God to give him the strength and stability to walk over difficult terrain.

That may be what faith looks like in some seasons of our lives. God may not explain why the difficulty came or tell us when it will end. He may not show us how every circumstance will work out. Sometimes He gives us something better than an explanation: Himself.

Perhaps you are walking through a dark season today. You may have more questions than answers and more uncertainty than assurance. Remember Habakkuk's “Yet.” Your circumstances may change, but God's character does not. Your path may be hidden, but His presence is not.

We do not have to see the entire road to take the next step. We simply have to trust the One who knows where it leads. You may not be able to see the road ahead. But God can. And when you cannot see the road, trust the One who can.

Dr. Tony Banning is a longtime Southern Baptist minister who serves as pastor of Whitehouse Fork Baptist Church in Baldwin County and as an adjunct professor at Coastal Alabama Community College. He is the author of “Come Aside: An Invitation to Experience the Presence of God,” forthcoming this winter.