Take Joy in Him — O, Beloved!

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;
He makes my feet like the deer’s;
He makes me tread on my high places.

— Habakkuk 3:17-19

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Preserve me, O God, for in You I take refuge.
I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from You.’

The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
You hold my lot.
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

I have set the Lord always before me;
because He is at my right hand,
I shall not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole bing rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.
For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let Your holy one see corruption.

You make known to me the path of life;
in Your presence there is fullness of joy;
at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

— Selections from Psalm 16

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Be glad, O children of Zion,
and rejoice in the Lord your God,
for He has given the early rain for your vindication;
He has poured down for you abundant rain,
the early and the later rain, as before.
The threshing floors shall be full of grain;
the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

I will restore to you the years
that the swarming locust has eaten,
the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,
my great army, which I sent among you.
You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
and praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.
You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,
and that I am the Lord your God
and there is none else.

— Joel 2:23-27a

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Beloved? (ever so gentle)

There might be times in your life when you can rejoice in nothing else, but you can always, always rejoice in Him, do you know? (tender)

Maybe your business will fail. Maybe your health will fail. Maybe your mind will fail. Maybe you will lack food to nourish your body, or tenderness and intimacy to nourish your soul. Maybe you will make mistakes and feel ashamed. Maybe you will feel helpless to fix broken relationships, helpless to fix yourself.

Failing and pain are part of life here, beloved. I hate that for you, but He ordains it - and so it must be good, yes? (hopeful)

He alone is worthy of rejoicing in, beloved. He is constant, unchanging, always and forever loving you with His beautiful, patient, steadfast Love. When all else is ‘wrong,’ beloved, His mere presence, His mere existence is worth your gladness, your joy, your worship and praise and adoration, is it not, beloved? (gentle)

I know that it’s so easy to lose sight of this truth, beloved. (extra gentle) I know that your eyes are so quick to look down in shame and inward in selfishness. You often forget to look up and out. But beloved? (tender) Even this is not an insurmountable obstacle when you are a child of the King.

All that He requires is your acknowledgement that you lost sight of Him, once again, this day. You tell Him you’re sorry. You tell Him that you can’t escape from your shame, your selfishness, apart from Him. You beg Him to help you. And you trust that He will help you.

And then you rejoice. You remind yourself who He is, who you are. You read what His Word tells us about rejoicing.

Though all else is broken and messy and numb and feels hopeless, beloved…yet you will rejoice in the Lord. You will take joy in the God of your salvation.

Many things you cannot grasp after here, beloved (gentle), but you can grasp after joy in Him, do you see?! (hopeful) When your hands, your arms, your soul feels empty, when you feel the ache, and are keenly aware of the immense lack…take joy in Him, beloved. Take joy. It is yours for the taking, my sweet one, do you know? (tender)