Life in the Wilderness

This week, God has brought to mind this verse from Habakkuk, and it has been both comforting and instructive at the same time.  I love what this image depicts:  life in the wilderness.

Yes, life in the wilderness.  

But logic questions, "How can there be life in the wilderness?"

The Answer

This verse from Habakkuk reveals the secret, and it is what I have been contemplating the last couple of days.

There's life in joy.  But the joy of which Habakkuk is speaking is independent of circumstances.  It is not an emotional response to the thrills of life and having everything go my way.  This joy is rooted in Someone Else and is entirely dependent upon the Giver.

True joy, the kind that remains through life's ups and downs and is constant and unwavering, has everything to do with Christ and what He has done for His people.   It is the by-product of a thriving relationship with Him.

The Choice

Habakkuk chose to rejoice in His God.

At my disposal is a lifetime full of joy, peace, and happiness no matter what happens.  It's there because God has promised it, and He never goes back on His word.  Will I avail myself of this richness and receive from His hand what He so abundantly will give me?

The trials we face, the sufferings we experience, the wildernesses into which God leads us - all these things are designed to draw us closer to God so that we experience in a fuller and deeper way who He is and grow to trust more and more His wisdom and power.  

This is the source of true joy.  This is the joy of which Habakkuk spoke:  joy in the Lord, joy in the God of my salvation. 

This is where God has me at the moment.  As God takes me through a wilderness and continues to strip away everything I'm used to and what I think I need, I realize He's leaving me with only one thing: Himself.  And I'm growing to see that's all I really need.

My joy rests in Him - and in Him alone.