Faith Chooses Joy
“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.”
Habakkuk 3:17–18 (ESV)
Faith is easy when life is full—when blessings seem to overflow, when prayers are answered, when the path feels smooth. But Habakkuk challenges us to see that real faith is not dependent on circumstances. He paints a picture of complete loss: no figs, no grapes, no olives, no food, no flocks. In other words, everything that represented security and prosperity in his world had been stripped away. And yet, in the middle of that barrenness, Habakkuk makes a bold declaration: “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord.” He chooses joy—not because of what he sees in his situation, but because of who he knows God to be.
True faith is not a reaction to blessing—it is a decision to trust God’s character even when blessings seem absent. It’s a confidence that God’s goodness does not rise and fall with our circumstances. Faith that endures through difficulty is the kind that keeps singing when the harvest is gone and keeps praising when the answers are delayed.
This kind of faith isn’t denial of pain—it’s defiance of despair. It looks suffering in the eye and says, “You will not steal my song.” It’s the kind of faith that clings to God not for what He gives, but for who He is—the God of our salvation, the unchanging One in a changing world.
John W. Crowder 