Do you need more joy?
I’m trying to imagine someone saying, “No, I need less joy.”
Maybe you’re in a moment of life where your joy is so full, you wouldn’t know where to stuff more.
If this describes you, I rejoice for you.
If this describes how you wish you felt, I relate to you.
I also have great news for us. We can embrace joy and hold onto it even in the storms.
We can embrace joy like a mom whose daughters moved 4,877 miles away and they’re stepping off a plane and into her arms. Sweet joy!
But what happens when my daughters (I mean this fictitious mom’s daughters) return home? What happens to her (my) joy then?
Unfading joy waits for us in Christ. His joy abides forever.
Even when your children return home, His joy remains.
Even when your loved ones move far away or on to heaven, the joy of the Lord is our abiding strength.
Even when you’re the kingdom of Judah and Babylon is about to bust down your doors and drag you off into captivity, joy remains because God remains (Habakkuk 3:16–19).
Joy no matter what is the message and promise God gave His prophet Habakkuk—and the reason I wrote, Embracing Joy: An 8-Week Transformational Bible Study on Habakkuk.
The release date is September 5, 2023.
However…
What???!!!!
My sister’s copy of Embracing Joy arrived in the mail almost two months before the release date.
She secretly taped me as she revealed the surprise. Sneaky girl!
I had no idea it would release early. Is that a thing? I’m so confused and excited and under-prepared.
But God is neither confused nor unprepared. He’s sovereign!
I’m rejoicing because Habakkuk shows us all we need to know in order to embrace joy.
I’m praying because I need God to lead me in how to let more people know the study is available. I want to spread the word without drawing the attention away from God and His Word and turning it onto myself.
I’ve dragged my feet in posting this exciting news on social media because it feels like I’m shouting to the world, “Look at what I’ve done! Look at how awesome I am!”
It’s even hard to post this news on my own website, but I did because I truly believe in the truths God revealed to Habakkuk that transformed him from panic to praise. From complaints to contentment.
The God of Habakkuk Is Our God
I want each of us to know the joy Habakkuk embraced even in the worst of circumstances. The joy that comes from God.
The truth that the Lord IS our joy and our strength.
It’s easy to proclaim this truth, but how do we live it out?
How do we truly feel this joy in our souls in the midst of our sorrows?
God shows us through Habakkuk how we can both know and walk in this unfailing truth by knowing and remembering who God is.
The foundational truth of God’s character, nature, and ways is the bedrock we stand on when the storms slam against us. It held Habakkuk firm. It will hold us.
The God of Habakkuk is also our God.
Though all is gone, God remains!
Embracing Joy
The truth that God remains is only one of the many truths we learn from Habakkuk in this 8-week study. You can go through it alone or with a Bible study group. Or both!
Listen to and share this introduction to Embracing Joy.
If you know someone who would be blessed by this study, would you please share it with them? Consider going through the study with them. Share this with your Women’s Ministry Director.
For additional information and resources to get the most out of the study, check out my Embracing Joy: Habakkuk Resource Page.
