CAN WE REJOICE?

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

365 DEVOTIONS FROM OUR DAILY BREAD

CAN WE REJOICE?

READ:  Habakkuk 3:17-19

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord…The Lord god is my strength.

Habakkuk 3:18, 19

I’ll never forget the question our Bible-study leader asked:  “What do you fear would test your faith in God the most?”  We were studying Habakkuk 3:17-18, where the prophet said that even if God sent suffering or loss, he would still rejoice.

As a single woman in my twenties, my answer was “I don’t know if I could stand the pain of losing my parents.”  But I told God  that day that even when they died I would rejoice in Him.  I found out too soon that it’s easier said than done.

A month later, Dad learned he had heart disease and didn’t have long to live.  He didn’t know Jesus as his Savior, so I begged God not to let him die without coming to know Him.  Not only did he die that year, so did Mom, who was a believer.  I didn’t know if my prayer for Dad was answered.  I couldn’t rejoice; I wondered if God had even heard my prayer.

As I wrestled with Him about my questions, I experienced the Lord as my “refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).  I found hope in the truth that God, “the Judge of all the earth,” would do what was right by everyone (Genesis 18:25).

We can rejoice-when we are rejoicing in the Lord, our strong refuge and righteous Judge.      AC

Why must I bear this pain?  I cannot tell;

I only know my Lord does all things well.

And so I trust in God, my all in all,

For He will bring me through, whate’er befall. -Smith

God tries our faith so that we may try His faithfulness.