Unshakeable Joy

Pro 18:14 A man’s spirit will endure sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?

One of my greatest weaknesses is that I can feel “crushed in spirit” pretty easily.  If I am not careful, I can very easily misread things in a way that I get pretty intensely discouraged rather quickly.  This verse has been an encouragement to me, because it affirms how challenging this place can be!  With that said, I usually pay close attention to verses in the Bible that help remedy this state.  One of my favorite passages in this realm is below…

Hab 3:17-19 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.

In these verses, the prophet Habakkuk lists all of the major food sources in his area of the world and basically says, “Even if there is no FOOD, I will find joy in the Lord.”  This, I believe, is one of the most clear and profound pictures of unshakeable joy. 

I have never experienced circumstances in which I was actually starving and had no access to food.  In fact, it is hard for me to image such a place.  But what these verses tell me is that I can find joy even in THAT place.

With that said, I have read and re-read the book of Habakkuk dozens of times looking for how he came to that place.  In the next day or two I will post the conclusions I have come to.