…yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. (Habakkuk 3:18, NIV)
I’d like to think I could enjoy golf every day. Truthfully, as much as we may love the game, there are few earthly pleasures we partake of daily. Sleep, surely. Easing one’s tired head into the pillow and giving way to hours of restorative rest always wins the night. And perhaps eating, too—though you’ve probably experienced many days where your meals were mindless stops along the way of much to do. But sleeping and eating are physical necessities. Golf is a chosen pleasure. To do it every day would risks moving it from desirable to disciplined or (even worse) drudgery. So maybe just nine holes, eh?
Yesterday we considered the rejoicing that comes when we know our names are written in heaven. This glance into eternity fills our cup of joy. But perhaps you’ve wondered, too, about today. Is it too much to ask of God that we be given reason to rejoice in regular routines?
Part of the answer to this question may rest in your routines. If you possess abundant ways and means, you may have great authority in choosing your daily activities, and chances are you’re choosing to do mostly what you enjoy. Those who, on the other hand, find themselves in place of more common service do not have the luxury of latitude, and it can be harder for them to take true pleasure in the tasks of their day.
The Lord, his Savior, knew Habakkuk. The Lord, your Savior, knows you.But here is another thing we know: We control far less than we think. If we believe in God, we see life through the lens of his sovereignty and recognize that he ordains what he wills. So the poor man wins the lottery and the rich man invests in can’t-miss Enron; Steve Jobs dies of a wicked cancer and Esteban Toledo rises from the dirt floors of his childhood to win on tour.
Which leads us to the central question in the matter. Not whether we will be given joy in our days, but whether we will respond with joy to what we are given.
Notice the little word that opens our selected verse from Habakkuk today. Yet. This little conjunction tells us that something contrary has come before it. Habakkuk did not say “and so” but rather “yet”—“yet I will rejoice.” So what was Habakkuk rejoicing in spite of?
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice…
Habakkuk was a man who could find daily joy because his joy was not dependent on his circumstances. Instead, his joy came from the one who knew his circumstances and, more vitally, knew Habakkuk himself. The Lord, his Savior, knew Habakkuk. The Lord, your Savior, knows you. He knows what you are going through. He is there to be your strength and enable you “to go on the heights” (v. 19). This is your God. He is your joy, every single day.
—
Jeff Hopper
October 9, 2018
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.