God is about joy. When feeling down, God can lift you up (Psalm 94:19). Upon waking up each day, our task is to turn our minds toward gratitude and invite the opportunities we have in our daily labour to feel joyful for everything before us, whether good or bad: “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, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior” (Habakkuk 3:17-18). Here in Habakkuk we find joy in the face of poverty and scarcity; that joy is cultivated in faith because what we see before us is from our own earthly, limited perspective and that the Big Picture is beyond our scope. God understands the whole picture from His perspective and we have to trust in Him that it is all for our good, no matter what the temporary circumstances. This is wonderfully summed up in 1 Peter 1:8-9, “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” At the end of the day, its about trust and having the faith of a little child (Matthew 18:3). God knows more than us, so rely on Him.
