LHF#23: Gladness in God Alone

What if ...?
It is a very real question at this point.

The pressures and stresses we face are closing in. It does seem that all of us will be affected. Some of us are already experiencing the lack of needed medical care, relationships at the breaking point, the loss of a job, debilitating fear. It's getting hard to imagine that things will ever go back to normal. 

We can choose to look to God. Even now. Especially now!
He can help us through the challenges we are experiencing.
In His Word we find a relevant example in the prophet Habakkuk. 

Habakkuk was dealing with difficult news, changing circumstances, the impending loss of all that was normal and good. It took time for him to process all this. He did so with God. It ended with these words from Habakkuk:

"Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
God, the Lord, is my strength..."
Habakkuk 3:17-19a

Habakkuk lived in an agrarian society. He may have been speaking of an impending practical reality. Or he was perhaps looking ahead symbolically. What is clear is that he is facing complete disaster. 

"yet I will rejoice"
Powerful words full of faith and surrender. How could he? How can we?

The focus had gone from the circumstances to the Lord.
When God is our source of stability, peace, and strength, such joy is possible. Joy in Him. Not the circumstances ruling the day, but the Lord of life ruling our hearts. God is then our treasure in a very real and practical way. 

The squeeze is on!
Finding joy in God through difficult circumstances... 
How can we hold fast to Him in this way?
What "good fruit" can grow as a result of pursuing joy in the Lord?


written by Gina