“Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” ~ Habakkuk 3:17-18

Recently, I had a particularly bad week—a terrible week by my standards. A week so terrible it had me second-guessing much I had done in my life up to that point. And it had me feeling defeated. No figs were blossoming in my days, and their was definitely many fails. It was hard to remember the standing of my soul, because the wailing of my state was loud.  

There is an old hymn that states, “It is well with my soul.” The fascinating thing about this hymn is that it was written in a time when, under normal circumstances, nothing should have been well with his soul. It was written by Horatio Spafford, who had sent his wife and four daughters to England while he finished some business matters. The boat famously collided with another vessel, sinking in only 12 minutes, killing his four daughters, while his wife was spared.

Spafford hurried to meet with his wife, and his ship passed the place where his daughters passed away. The captain mournfully called Spafford to the bridge.

When it was said and done, Spafford returned to his quarters and wrote the following words, 

“When peace like a river attendeth my way, 

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,

It is well, it is well with my soul.”

These words can be described in many ways. Peaceful. Encouraging. Powerful. I choose to describe them first and foremost this way– Defiant. 

Why? 

The answers come from some details I purposefully left out. Spafford had already lost his son to scarlet fever. The Chicago Fire of 1871 had destroyed many of his real estate investments. And now, he lost the last of his children.

These words are defiant because, like the Biblical character Job, who had lost everything, despite serving God, he held curses and lifted praise. Joy is a defiant thing. It is otherworldly. When happiness fails, joy does not. 

When the world hands a verdict to the distraught and says, “Curse God and die” (Job 2:9). Joy says, “Praise God and live.” In Christ, you can live with joy in the worst of circumstances when the fruit doesn’t blossom, livestock doesn’t yield, and the world seems to be falling beneath your feet. 

Joy says, “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation” (Habakkuk 3:17-18).