may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor
of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock
may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd
in the stalls--
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will joy
in the God of my salvation.
The LORD God
is my strength;
He will make my feet
like deer’s feet,
And He will make me walk
on my high hills.”
A number of years ago, at the beginning of a one year time period that was one of our worst years — a time of severe and long-lasting pain for me that held no end in sight — a physically miserable, emotionally devastating year filled with tests and imaging and surgery and a long recovery, I went to a pastors’ wives retreat. At the retreat, the Lord gave me a song. I had not yet walked through what was coming. And I knew I would be walking through something.
“The joy of the Lord
will be my strength
I will not falter,
I will not faint
He is my Shepherd,
I am not afraid
The joy of the Lord
is my strength
The joy of the Lord
The joy of the Lord
The joy of the Lord
is my strength
The joy of the Lord
will be my strength
He will uphold me
all of my days
I am surrounded
by mercy and grace
And the joy of the Lord
is my strength
The joy of the Lord
The joy of the Lord
The joy of the Lord
is my strength
The joy of the Lord
will be my strength
And I will not waiver,
walking by faith
He will be strong
to deliver me safe
And the joy of the Lord
is my strength
The joy of the Lord
The joy of the Lord
The joy of the Lord
is my strength”
You can be suffering pain, uncertainty, lack of resources, loss of relationships, and so many other miseries AND still be surrounded by His mercy and grace. I did not know if I would physically survive that year. And some days I turned my face to the wall and just laid there, heart open in wordless pain to the Lord. I fretted that my children would be motherless, and my husband widowed. And then I trusted them to Him who loves them better than me. I sat in a chair much of that year.
And the Lord sustained me. He delivered me. He walked the valley with me, and brought me out again.
You might think I don’t like hearing that song anymore. But you’d be wrong.
When I hear it, and when I sing it, I remember how the Lord helped me endure when I couldn’t endure. How He gave me courage and taught me to trust Him when my prayers felt like they fell to the floor. How it isn’t abundant circumstances that give us abundant life.
The joy of the Lord is my strength.
