Choosing Joy in Difficult Seasons
Struggling to find joy when life is painful, disappointing, or just plain hard? In this episode, discover how biblical joy isn't tied to your circumstances; it's anchored in who God is, even when everything falls apart.
Struggling to find joy when life is painful, disappointing, or just plain hard? In this episode, discover how biblical joy isn't tied to your circumstances; it's anchored in who God is, even when everything falls apart.
Have you ever felt like joy was impossible because of what you're going through?
When the diagnosis doesn't change, the relationship doesn't heal, or the loss doesn't lift, it's easy to believe that joy is something for other people, people whose lives are working. You wait for circumstances to improve before you allow yourself to feel any sense of gladness. But that day never seems to come, and bitterness slowly creeps in where joy was meant to live.
In this episode, we look at the remarkable story of Nick Vujicic, a man born without arms or legs who faced relentless bullying, deep loneliness, and an attempted suicide at age 10. He couldn't imagine a future or see any purpose in a body that seemed useless. But as a teenager, Nick encountered the love of Christ and made a life-changing decision: he would trust that God had a purpose, even if he couldn't see it yet. Today, he travels the world sharing the gospel with an unmistakable joy that has nothing to do with his body working.
Through Nick's story and the stunning declaration of Habakkuk 3:17–18, you'll see that biblical joy doesn't wait for circumstances to cooperate. It's rooted in the unchanging character of God. You can grieve and still have joy. You can hurt and still trust. You can weep and still worship.
BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING, YOU'LL DISCOVER:
- The difference between happiness that depends on what happens and joy that's anchored in who God is
- How Habakkuk's "yet I will rejoice" becomes a model for holding onto joy when everything seems stripped away
- A practical way to write your own declaration of trust and anchor your heart in difficult seasons
Joy isn't denial, it's defiance. It's choosing to anchor your heart in something deeper than your situation.
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5. A boy is born without arms or legs, and no one can
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explain why. Nick Vujicic came into the world with a rare
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disorder that left him with no limbs, just a small foot he
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calls his chicken drumstick. Growing up, he faced relentless
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bullying, deep loneliness, and the crushing question, why would
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God make me like this? At age 10, the pain became so unbearable
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that he attempted suicide. He couldn't imagine a future,
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couldn't see any purpose. And couldn't understand why God
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would allow him to exist in a body that seemed useless. In
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that kind of darkness, why would anyone choose joy instead of
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bitterness?
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Welcome to Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. I'm Bart Leger, and
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today we're talking about something that can feel
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impossible when life is hard. Joy.
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That's one of the most stunning declarations in all of Scripture.
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Habakkuk isn't pretending everything's fine. Habakkuk
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isn't pretending everything's fine. He's listing real losses.
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His crops have failed, his fields are empty, and he's got
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dead livestock. That word, yet, that word, yet, that word, yet,
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is the hinge of the whole passage. Even in the midst of
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all that, he writes, yet, I will rejoice in the Lord. That word,
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yet, is the hinge of the whole passage. It's where Habakkuk
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pivots from circumstances to character, from what's happening
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around him to who God is within him. His joy isn't denial. It's
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defiance. It's a choice to anchor his heart in something
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deeper than his situation. That's the difference between
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happiness and joy. Happiness depends on what happens. Joy
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depends on who God is. Happiness rises and falls with our
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circumstances. Joy can stand firm even when everything else
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is shaking all around us. Most of us don't naturally think that
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way. When life gets difficult, our instinct is to wait for
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things to improve before we can feel any sense of gladness. In
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the past, we think, I'll be joyful when the diagnosis
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changes, when the relationship heals, when the finances recover,
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or when the pain stops. But biblical joy doesn't wait for
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circumstances to cooperate. It's rooted in the unchanging nature
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of God. God is still good when the harvest fails, and God is
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still faithful when the prayers seem unanswered. He is still
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sovereign when life doesn't make sense. And because of that, joy
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is possible. Not because you're ignoring reality, but because
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you're anchored in a deeper reality. This doesn't mean you
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paste on a smile and pretend everything's fine. Habakkuk
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cried out to God earlier in his book. He asked hard questions,
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and he wrestled with confusion. Real joy doesn't bypass lament.
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It rises through it. You can grieve and still have joy. You
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can hurt and still trust. You can weep and still worship. As a
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teenager, Nick Voyerchuk encountered the love of Christ
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in a deeper way and made a decision. He would trust that
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God had a purpose, even if he couldn't see it yet. Today, Nick
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travels the world, speaking to millions, sharing the gospel
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with an unmistakable joy that has nothing to do with his body
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working. He often says, I have the choice to be angry at God
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for what I don't have or be thankful for what I do have. His
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life, his Habakkuk 3, 17 and 18, lived out in the flesh. He is
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choosing to rejoice in the Lord even when everything else seems
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stripped away.
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improving. It's anchored in who God is. And Nick's story proves
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it's possible to say, Yet, I will rejoice, no matter what
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you're facing.
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right now. Maybe the victories aren't blossoming in your life.
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The relationship's not healing, the job's not coming, and your
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body's not cooperating. And the grief, it's not going away. It's
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not lifting. You don't have to pretend it doesn't hurt. But you
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can still choose joy. Not because of what's happening, but
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because of who God is. He is the God of your salvation. He's not
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abandoned you, and he's working even when you can't see it.
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Here's today's challenge. Write your own Yet, I will rejoice
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statement. Start by naming what's hard right now. Honestly,
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without sugarcoating it. Then add the word Yet, and declare
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your trust in God. something like this. Even though the job
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fell through and the savings are almost gone, I don't know what's
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yet, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in the
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God of my salvation.
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Lord, some of us are in seasons where joy feels impossible. The
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losses are real. The pain is tough to bear. But you are still
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good and faithful, and you are still the God of our salvation.
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Help us to say, yet I will rejoice even when life's hard.
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Anchor our joy in who you are, not in what's happening around
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us. If you're walking through a painful season and need prayer,
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I'd love to lift you up. Leave me a voicemail at
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dailydevotionsforbusylives.com
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and I'll pray for you by name. Thanks for joining me on Daily
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Devotions for Busy Lives. Remember, biblical joy isn't
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tied to your circumstances. It's anchored in who God is, even
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when life falls apart. Come back next time for more encouragement
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to help you live grounded in God's truth. Until then, God
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bless and have a great day.
