How to Choose Joy When Life is Hard

Life can be hard, this is a simple fact that we have all experienced from time to time. We experience financial hardships, loss of a job, loss of someone we love, we are rejected, treated harshly or suffer unkindness. We try to figure out the why.  The truth is much of what happens in life is beyond our understanding. So how to you choose joy when you find yourself in the midst of hardships.

The profit Habakkuk tell us in Chapter 3:17-19

17 Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail And the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls, 18 Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. 19 The Lord God is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, And makes me walk on my high places.

If you go back one verse you will see the extreme distress and hardship Habakkuk was facing:

I heard and my inward parts trembled, At the sound my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones,
And in my place I tremble. Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, For the people to arise who will invade us. Habakkuk 3:16

But immediately after writing this, Habakkuk exults in the LORD.  Despite feeling extreme distress, he chooses to rejoice. Look at the verses again, they give us great hope.  These verses also give clear direction in how to choose joy in the midst of hardships.

17 Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, 18 Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. 19 The Lord GOD is my strength, and He has made my feet like the feet of a deer, And makes me walk on my high places.

Even If I Loss Everything

Do you see what Habakkuk is saying? Even if I lose everything, even though all my income and all of my assets are gone, when I lose my job and cannot cover the bills, if I suffer the loss of my parents, if my friends or family treat me harshly or unkindly, what is the response? When it looks like all of the blessings that God has given you have disappeared and you are having to go through some really hard times, do you respond as Habakkuk did? Most of us don’t. But if we can learn to respond as Habakkuk did, we can have Joy even when life is hard.

I Will Rejoice

Despite the loss of everything, Habakkuk says: “Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation”. I want you to notice something here, Habakkuk is not merely saying I will put up a stiff upper chin and get through this the best I can. He is not saying okay Lord these are the circumstances you have allowed in my life as a sovereign God, I guess I will just have to deal with it, I will try and suffer through.

No, No, he is actively making the choice to choose Joy to choose to exult and rejoice in God despite his circumstances. “I will EXULT in the Lord, I will REJOICE in the God of my salvation!”

Habakkuk is anticipating losing absolutely everything, his inward parts are trembling, decay has entered his bones, he is terrified of the future and feels as if he is going to die, so how does he choice to joy in the midst of this?

His Joy Was in the Lord and Not His Circumstances

Habakkuk’s focus is on the Lord and not his circumstances. He delights in God himself rather then the gifts that God gives to him. He knows that the Lord will not let his feet slip or let him fall. God has made his feet like the feet of a deer able to traverse high and treacherous rocky mountain trails without slipping. That is why he is joyful! Though there is pain and difficulty, he delights in who God is not what God gives him.

Habakkuk knows that if God gives you everything one day and chooses to take it away the next, God is still good. Habakkuk sees all God’s gifts disappear, yet he was able to choose joy in the midst of much hardship. Habakkuk’s joy was not dependent on physical blessings. Despite suffering extreme loss, he was determined to praise God. Habakkuk’s focus in on God’s goodness.

We need to ask ourselves when we are facing hard times, is our delight in the Lord himself or in the gifts he gives us. There is a great deal of difference between, “I love what you do for me” and “I love YOU.” What goes through your mind when you are in the midst of difficult circumstances? If we are honest, for most of us, our first, and natural thoughts are to think, it’s not fair, it’s not good, why me…

However, if we want to have Joy even when life is hard, we need to train ourselves to think as Habakkuk did. We can choose to delight in a sovereign God, who uses all circumstances, including very hard ones, to accomplish good for us.

It is confidence in the goodness of the God which enables you to delight in Him and it is delighting in Him that allows you to overcome your circumstances and choose joy in the midst of hard times.

Now go and choose joy and do something to make today your Favorite day!