Take Joy

Scripture Reading: Habakkuk 2-3; Zephaniah 1-2; Revelation 17

I will take joy in the God of my salvation…

Habakkuk 3:18

Merry Christmas!

Today, no matter what your circumstance, you would do well to follow the lead of Habakkuk. He was living during hard times. He was witnessing the collapse of a nation. Not just any nation, but the nation of which he was a citizen. Everything that made him comfortable and content was in the process of being removed.

The fig tree wasn’t blossoming, the olive harvest was failing, the fields were not yielding any food, the livestock were perishing. It was tough.

Still, Habakkuk found something to rejoice in. And it wasn’t a false, put-on joy. It was deep and real. After all of his complaints and worries were expressed, after he confessed to the very real threats he was facing, he remembered that he had salvation in his God.

I like the way the ESV says it:

I will take joy…

That sounds like a man who seizes it. He grabs hold of it. Joy doesn’t just land on him like a raindrop from the sky. It stands in front of him with a silly grin and challenges him to catch it. And he does. He takes joy.

Joy is there for us, but we have to have a reason to rejoice. We have to figure that out. We won’t just wake up unexpectedly happy. We have to reason our way to it, have a basis for it, and decide to grab hold of it.

Now, before you say that you have nothing to be happy about, I want you to ask yourself if you have eternal life in Jesus Christ. Is Jesus the God of your salvation?

If he is, then start there. And even if that is the only thing you have, you are an extremely rich person. You have something that poverty, persecution, disease, and even death can’t take from you.

The Advent we celebrate today, if nothing else, should be a reminder that we have something wonderful to rejoice in.

So, say it with Habakkuk:

I will take joy in the God of my salvation!