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.
- It looks like Habakkuk spent some time on a farm. How might he have written this if he lived in New York City or Atlanta?
- I will rejoice. Rejoice. Is that the same thing as happiness or something different?
- How important is your happiness to you?
- How important is your happiness to God? Does God care whether we are happy?
- How valuable is it to you that the people in your world are happy? How does it feel to spend time with people who are always grumpy?
- Lewis said, “It is a Christian duty, as you know, for everyone to be as happy as he can.”[1] Do you agree?
- Jonathan Edwards: “Resolved, to endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness in the other world as I possibly can, with all the power, might, vigour, and vehemence . . . I am capable of.”[2] Is sounds like happiness is hard work. Is it hard work to rejoice in the Lord?
- Anther quote, this one from Piper: “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”[3] How does our satisfaction in God bring glory to God?
- One more. This from Spurgeon: “God made human beings, as he made his other creatures, to be happy. They are capable of happiness, they are in their right element when they are happy.”[4]
- How do we rejoice in the Lord when we are tempted to be grumpy?
- How can we pray for each other this week?
[1] Lewis, C. S. 2004–2007. The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis. Edited by Walter Hooper. Vol. 3. New York: HarperCollins e-books; HarperSanFrancisco.
[2] Alcorn, Randy. 2015. Happiness. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
[3] Piper, John. 2003. Desiring God. Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers.
[4] Spurgeon, C. H. 1905. “Christ’s Joy and Ours.” In The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, 51:229. London: Passmore & Alabaster.
