Though
the fig tree does not blossom and there is no fruit on the vines, Though the
olive crop fails and the fields provide no food, Though there are no sheep in
the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
Yet I will be jubilant in the Lord, I will rejoice in the victorious God
of my salvation. The Lord God is my
strength, my personal invincible army; He makes my feet like the feet of
deer, And enables me to walk over my
“mountain” of trouble and suffering, And to make spiritual progress. (Hab. 3:17-19) When adversity finds our
address, and it will, it is time to put our praise on, to “Count it all Joy” and
rejoice in the Lord. To be “Jubilant” means to feel and express great happiness,
to be overjoyed, exultant, triumphant, joyful, ecstatic, rapturous… We are talking about all out unrestrained uninhibited worship here. This is how we tap into the invincible
strength of our victorious God: The joy of the Lord is our strength. We make
the journey through trouble and suffering -- we climb the mountain of Bad -- in
order to make spiritual progress.
Consider
the work of God; for who can make straight what He has made crooked? In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in
the day of adversity consider: surely
God has appointed the one as well as the other... (Ecc. 7:13-14) God appoints both prosperity
and adversity, and we can’t change the crooked... the adversity, only God can
change His “work.”
Shall
we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity? (Job 2:10)
“Adversity” is from the Hebrew words “ra/raah” and means “the entire spectrum
of bad.” God appoints both good and bad.
He
knows the way I take, When He
has tested me, I shall come
forth as gold. My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and not turned aside. I
have not departed from the
commandments of His lips; I have treasured
the words of His mouth more than my necessary food. (Job 23:10-12) God’s testing produces good, for only gold that is smelted – purified by melting
– is minted!
The “work of God”, no matter
how we view it, has a divine purpose, our transformation. God appoints… ordains,
both good and bad -- willing good and allowing bad – bringing balance to the
extremes in measured proportions unique to each saint. You see, God is at work
in each of us, willing and working in us of His good pleasure… our perfection. The
brightest prosperity – prosperity of the spirit – is found during our darkest
adversity as the indwelling Spirit of the living God molds our carnal nature
into the beautiful nature of Christ. We should therefore rejoice, and “Count it all
joy.” What God has done… He has done
best!
CONSIDER THE WORK OF GOD
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