Barbara is out of the hospital and back home! We are so thankful. This progress makes today's devotional very relevant for us!

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Written10 years ago in the midst of Barbara's debilitating illness of chronic Lymes disease and depression, and the deterioration it brought]. In the midst of this difficult time we want to continue to follow Habakkuk's example in Habakkuk 3:17-19

"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, (Yahweh)

I will BE JOYFUL in God (Elohim) my Savior.

[these are acts of the will, leading Habakkuk's emotions to the proper place of rest in God.]

Like Habakkuk, in the midst of my wife's difficulties, I choose to rejoice in you, Lord, for you are good always, you are the source of our joy--not our having things go the way we want.

As I praise you for what you are going to do in Barbara's illness, Lord. I can let go of the negatives and cling to you. I praise you for what you are doing, for what you are planning, for what you will work out, as you did with Old Testament Joseph in all he suffered.

Help us all to respond as Joseph did, trusting you, bringing glory to your name, and healing to our souls. I thank you for the unseen things you are going to accomplish through this, for the good that you will draw out of it. I ask for your guidance in what I should do to join your purposes.

Picture: us in hospital just before coming home