Yet I Will Rejoice in the LORD

Is it possible to rejoice even when things don’t seem to be going well for you?

It’s easy to have faith and to rejoice in the LORD when everything is going along smoothly and you’re on the mountain top.  But when plunged into the valley; when suffering comes your way; when difficulties arise; when diagnoses aren’t what you hoped for; when you feel let down by God; when you’ve tried to do everything right–eat well, exercise, study Scripture, pray, shop at Target where you expect more and pay less, read the Wall Street Journal; and when you’ve done it all and things fall apart anyway, can you still rejoice?

Habakkuk says yes.

The Apostle Paul says yes, too.  He wrote the book on human suffering for the faith.  After listing numerous ways of suffering, he says this:

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,  neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:37-39)

Do you see how Paul kept his focus?  Just like Habakkuk.  We can rejoice in God our Savior.  Nothing can separate us from His love.  With this as sure knowledge, our hope endures and we press on!  Our faith will be rewarded someday.  We are strengthened to go on to the heights.