Joy in God

Jun 02, 2025

I have a confession to make:

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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.

Habakkuk 3:17-18 (ESV)

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I don’t have a life verse.

😱

I know, crazy, right?

I like to be a bit contrarian at times, and refusing to pick out a life verse is one of those ways I like to be different than the American Christian culture.

However…

If I was to pick out a life verse, this one would be in the playoffs.

Let’s break it down.

In a farming culture, losing the fruit of your fig trees, the fruit of your vines, the harvest of your fields, the livestock in your barns … is devastating.

It’d probably be similar to going bankrupt.

Job lost everything, and yet rejoiced in God.

The prophet Habakkuk here also talks about what he would do if the unthinkable happened and he found himself without any source of income for a significant amount of time.

He would rejoice in God.

Because God saved him.

I know that’s easy to say when things are good, but can I say it when things are tough, too?

For me, there’s room for improvement.

I’m not afraid to complain to God, knowing that He’s big enough to handle all my petty complaints. But I don’t always take time every day to be grateful for God’s goodness when I’m struggling in life.

This verse is in the playoffs of life verses for me because it resets me — refocusing me on the thing that matters most in life:

My relationship with God.

— Ricky Ketchum

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from the ESV®Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright© 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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