The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon.

“Even if the fig tree does not blossom, and there is no fruit on the vines, if the yield of the olive fails, and the fields produce no food, even if the flock disappears from the fold, and there are no cattle in the stalls, yet I will triumph in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.”

—Habakkuk 3:17–18

There is power in praising the Lord when everything seems to be falling apart around us. It shows that our hope is truly in him and not in the blessings we have in this life. This was the charge Satan levied against Job—that if Job’s earthly blessings were taken away, he would turn away from serving God (Job 1:9–11). 

While suffering, Job cried and questioned, grieved and wished he’d never been born, but he never turned from God, though he lost all his possessions and all his family except a bitter wife.

This is our responsibility—that our faith in the Lord would not be based on what we gain or lose in this life. We can be in plenty or in need and still be content (Philippians 4:11–13) because Jesus is the treasure in a field worth trading everything else to gain (Matthew 13:44).

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36).

So when this world lets us down, we don’t have to despair. We can still praise, knowing that the Lord and his promises are still true. We can take joy in him and the salvation he’s given us.

Rejoicing in the midst of trouble is a sign to those around us that our faith is not in this world, but in the Lord alone.

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