When It's Not "The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year"

I ran into someone yesterday while eating lunch at a local hamburger joint. He is a brother in the Lord who I've not seen in many months. I thought he'd fallen off the face of the planet... or simply decided to go to another church. What I found out was that he recently had gotten some bad news. Scary news. News that had sent him into a season of depression, isolation, and questioning.

The news: Cancer.

"Though the cherry trees don't blossom and the strawberries don't ripen, Though the apples are worm-eaten and the wheat fields stunted, Though the sheep pens are sheepless and the cattle barns empty, I'm singing joyful praise to God. I'm turning cartwheels of joy to my Savior God. Counting on God's Rule to prevail, I take heart and gain strength. I run like a deer. I feel like I'm king of the mountain!" - Habakkuk 3:17-19 (The Message)

This guy with the funny name, Habakkuk, is saying all this on the eve of his country's destruction. In our context, he is basically saying, "Even though my country is going down the toilet, my stocks are all crashing, my bank account is empty, my house is being taken away - even though everything around me sucks... I'm singing joyful praise to God". The Hebrew word that is used here literally means "to jump up and down". Does that strike you as odd? What's up?

In the New Testament part of the Bible, a God-lover named Paul says, "In everything give thanks" (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Notice he doesn't say, "FOR everything", he says "IN everything". You see, I can give thanks in everything because I know that God can change, fix, redeem, totally turn around the situation and can work out the problem whatever it might be if it is His will. However, I don't have to be fake. I don't have to pretend that the problem is a blessing,... or that it is not scaring the you-know-what out of me. I don't have to rejoice in the problem, but I can always rejoice in the Lord. I can always "sing joyful praise to God".

I think that God wants me to seek His face, to hear His voice, to see His vision, to hang out with Him no matter what is happening around me. No matter how bad the news might be, He wants me to rejoice in Him. Why? Because He is my strength and my joy.

Guess what I'm discovering? When I seek the Lord about a problem, by the time I'm finished talking it over with Him, as I worship Him and spend time with Him, I have usually forgotten what I came to Him for in the first place. His friendship is so awesome! His company is so sweet!

No matter what happens, He is our joy. He's the One that makes us actually feel like doing cartwheels. It is in seeking Him, that we find what we longed for all along. It is only when I'm Counting on God's Rule to prevail, that I take heart and gain strength. I run like a deer. I feel like I'm king of the mountain. It's all about hanging with Him,... loving Him,... praising Him in the midst of ANY storm we're currently living through.

A big 'thank you' to Lois Tverberg, who's book I'm reading currently. Her insight into the Hebrew Scriptures has been so exciting to me. Most of this information comes from her book, "Sitting At The Feet Of Our Rabbi Jesus".