Summer is advancing, and here in Phoenix that means HEAT (high of 112 later this week)! Where’s the pool!! In our lives we face “heat” also, trials and suffering that reveal our source of hope and where we take our joy and happiness. Last week we asked the question: “What kind of circumstances am I tempted to “take joy” in as a pastor’s wife?” Here are a few examples from my own life and the lives of other pastor’s wives I know. Some are light with a tone of humor, others are sober and serious. I think I can relate to each one as I survey my life as a pastor’s wife. Circumstances where: 1. My small children obey at church (and worship with raised hands too). 2. My teens show evidence of “turning out right” and walk in the fear of God in their formative years. 3. The church budget balances, resulting in no staff or ministry cuts or financial hardships. 4. Everyone gets along, and there is no relational conflict in my life or in the church. 5. 6. Unbelievers come and are saved. 7. New people come and join and long standing members stay. 8. There are enough workers in children’s ministry. 9. Gospel connections and transformation abound in the member’s lives... You get the idea and I am sure you could add a variety of desirable circumstances to this list. However, our friend Habakkuk the prophet moved beyond favorable circumstances to a Favorable God as his source of joy. Habakkuk 3:18-19 “yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God the Lord is my strength, he makes my feet like the deer’s, He makes me tread on high places.” I love how Mark Dever summarizes what this prophet learned: “Habakkuk expresses his great contentment in God after he has been considering God, praying to God, meditating on God, and then observing this vision of God’s coming. You and I should also learn more of God if we want to be happy and content. Just consider his promises for us in Christ! Our God is honest. Our God is just. Our God is faithful to the covenant he has made. This is the God we are called to love. Habakkuk learned, through his honest questioning, that what he wanted most was this God...So it is that we Christians (and pastor’s wives) are happy under any circumstance in the world! We have God, and he is our strength and hope” (The Message of the Old Testament pg.856-857) As your summer unfolds, if you encounter heat or trials, may you take joy in the God of your salvation.
