Joy that does not depend

“Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls. Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.”Habakkuk 3:17-18

Reflection

There is a joy that depends: it depends on the paycheck arriving, on good health, on the relationship going well, on the plan working out. That joy is good — but fragile, because it lives at the mercy of circumstances. And there is another joy, rare and almost scandalous, that the prophet Habakkuk described: the fig tree without blossom, the vine without fruit, the stall without cattle — everything going wrong — "yet I will rejoice in the Lord". It is not joy BECAUSE of. It is joy IN SPITE of.

How does someone rejoice in the middle of loss? The secret is in the preposition: Habakkuk did not say "I will rejoice in the situation", but "IN THE LORD". The source of joy changed address. When your joy lives in circumstances, any storm topples it; when it lives in God, it stands on ground no storm can reach. That is why Paul and Silas sang in the Philippian jail at midnight: their bodies were in the stocks, but their joy was somewhere else — beyond the reach of the chains.

It was this joy that Nehemiah prescribed to a tired, weeping people: "do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10). Notice: joy is not only a result — it is STRENGTH, it is fuel, it is a weapon. This joy is not pretending or denying pain. Habakkuk saw the dry fig tree; Paul felt his wounded back. Joy in the Lord lives alongside tears — it is deeper than them. So today, perhaps your fig tree did not blossom. Cry what you need to cry. But then, like the prophet, lift your chin and declare the "yet": even so, I will rejoice in the Lord.

Bible text: King James Version (public domain).