It's Not About Circumstances

If I have learned one thing during this season of life, I have learned this:

"True joy and lasting contentment does not come from my circumstances, it comes from the only true source, God."

I have learned this by dwelling and clinging to an awesome verse in Habakkuk:

" ¹⁷ Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,

¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior."

I love what I learned from a commentary:

Even in the midst of absolute ruin and abject famine, the prophet was prepared to trust God. He realized that inner peace did not depend on outward prosperity. Habakkuk did not state that he would merely endure in the hour of distress. He said he would rejoice in the Lord and be joyful. God is the inexhaustible source and infinite supply of joy.

Far too many people keep trying to find joy, but happiness is not found in circumstances. Joy is available to everyone, even to those stripped of every material possession, for joy is to be found in a Person.

We were pretty close to being stripped of every material possession. Our house got broken into and they took our t.v., laptop, camera, ipod, etc. Then Colby got in a wreck and his car was totalled, and we lost that. We have been praying about putting our house on the market, so that might be gone soon. I have to realize that my happiness is NOT in these things. They are NOTHING. Take it all away. Will I wake up and be content in a different house, and without some of the items everyone else has? Yes. Why? Because my contentment lies in the Lord. Period. Nothing else.

I am choosing today (and trying to choose every day) to be joyful no matter what. He is my true source of joy, my lasting joy, and my permanent contentment.