A New Day with Jesus

Day 49 Dancing In the Rain Today’s Reading: Habakkuk 3:17-18, ICB “Fig trees may not grow figs. There may be no grapes on the vines. There may be no olives growing on the trees. There may be no food growing in the fields…. But I will still be glad in the Lord. I will rejoice in God my Savior.” Would you say you’re a happy person? Are you still happy when something bad happens? Today's Bible verse proves that with God’s help, we can be happy even on bad days. When it says that fig trees may not grow figs, grapes may not be on the vines, and so on, this is another way of saying, “Even though things aren't going the way I want them to go.” Then it says, “I will still be glad in the Lord. I will rejoice in God my Savior.” To rejoice is when you are going through a really hard time, but you start to feel joy again once you start remembering how good and powerful God is, and that He’s by your side in every situation. A couple of years ago, one of my best friends and I had such a big problem that we split up for over two months. It was mainly my fault, and it took that much time for our friendship to be restored. During those 2 1/2 months, I had two choices: I could either think, “This is a horrible situation, and I cannot be happy, and I cannot rest until it's fixed.” Or I could say, “I don't like this, but God is still with me. I'm going to keep praying, reading His Word, and trusting Him to take care of me while I wait for this situation to get better.” You and I are going to have many problems in life, and sometimes they’ll last longer than we expect. We can't wait for our problems to get better for us to be happy, because we never know how long that will take! If our problems are like a storm, then we can’t just be upset until the sun shines again. We’ve got to learn to dance in the rain! Being happy in God during a problem doesn't mean you don't feel any pain, or that it won't still be hard. It means by trusting in God, He gives you a joy deep inside that runs even deeper than the pain. I don't know about you, but I think that's a reason to dance – even in the rain!