Rejoice When Life Falls Apart
Sermon by Pastor Glen Lim
6 September 2026
Scripture: Habakkuk 3:17–19
Series: Be Joyful in Uncertainties and Life Transition
Life is filled with uncertainty. Circumstances can change without warning, carefully made plans can fall apart, jobs can disappear, health can deteriorate, relationships can break down and things we once considered secure can suddenly be taken away.
So how can a Christian still have joy when life gives us very little to rejoice about?
Beginning a new series on being joyful in uncertainties and life transitions, Pastor Glen Lim turns to the closing verses of Habakkuk and a remarkable declaration of faith:
“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… yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”
Habakkuk 3:17–18
Habakkuk was not rejoicing because life was going well. Everything around him was going badly.
Yet his circumstances did not determine his joy.
Pastor Glen reminds us that we too can rejoice in the Lord even when life gives us nothing to rejoice about.
Facing the Reality of Life Without Fear and Doubt
Habakkuk did not live in denial.
He openly described the disaster before him: failed crops, empty fields, no food and no livestock. In the society of his time, these represented the loss of livelihood, provision and security.
In our lives today, the details may be different. It could be losing a job, facing financial difficulty, receiving troubling news about our health, experiencing the breakdown of a relationship or watching plans we carefully made suddenly collapse.
Faith does not require us to pretend that everything is fine.
We can acknowledge our pain and admit when circumstances are difficult. We may not fully understand why something is happening, but God does.
Jesus Himself told His disciples that in this world they would have trouble, but He also told them to take heart because He has overcome the world.
The Christian message is therefore not that following Jesus makes every problem disappear. Rather, we have the assurance that we never have to face our problems alone.
Our circumstances may be bad, but our God is still good.
Choosing to Rejoice and Worship God
After describing everything that had gone wrong, Habakkuk uses one important word:
“Yet.”
“Yet I will rejoice in the Lord.”
Nothing in his circumstances had changed. The fields were still empty. The crops had still failed.
What changed was Habakkuk’s response.
Pastor Glen reminds us that rejoicing during difficult times is a choice of faith. Instead of fixing our attention entirely on the size of our problem, we choose to focus on the greatness of our God.
Our circumstances do not get to decide whether we worship God. We decide.
Paul and Silas demonstrated this when they were beaten and imprisoned. Instead of spending the night complaining about what had happened to them, they prayed and sang hymns to God.
Likewise, Scripture calls us to rejoice always, pray continually and give thanks in all circumstances.
This does not mean forcing ourselves to feel happy.
Happiness is often affected by circumstances. Biblical joy goes deeper because its source is the Lord Himself. Joy is also the fruit of the Holy Spirit working within us.
We therefore rejoice not because every situation is good, but because God remains good in every situation.
Remembering Who God Is and What He Can Do
Habakkuk continues:
“The Sovereign Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to tread on the heights.”
When circumstances become uncertain, Pastor Glen encourages us to remember who our God is.
He is omnipotent. He is all-powerful, and nothing is too difficult for Him.
He is omniscient. He sees the beginning, the middle and the end. He knows our past, our present and our future.
He is omnipresent. He is with us wherever we go and has promised never to leave nor forsake us.
He is also our Shepherd who leads us, our Heavenly Father who loves and cares for us, and our ever-present help in times of trouble.
This is why we can trust Him even when we cannot understand what He is doing.
God knows what is best for us. There will be times when our prayers are answered differently from what we expected because God sees what we cannot see.
Rather than allowing tomorrow’s uncertainties to consume us, we can receive each new day with gratitude and ask:
“Lord, what do You want me to do with the day You have given me?”
Jesus calls us to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and trust our Heavenly Father with everything else.
When Everything Else Changes
Pastor Glen concludes the message with a simple but powerful contrast.
Our circumstances may fail and change.
Our resources may fail and change.
Our strength may fail and change.
Our friends may fail and change.
Our health may fail and change.
But our God does not fail and change.
This is the foundation of Christian joy.
If our joy disappears whenever our circumstances change, perhaps our joy has been resting more upon our circumstances than upon God Himself.
Habakkuk shows us another way.
When the things we depend upon disappear, God remains.
When our own strength fails, God remains our strength.
When the future becomes uncertain, God already knows what lies ahead.
When we feel alone, God remains present.
And when life gives us nothing to rejoice about, we can still rejoice in Him.
A Joy That Life Cannot Take Away
Habakkuk’s declaration was not based on wishful thinking. He faced the reality of what was happening and still chose faith.
“Yet I will rejoice in the Lord.”
That same choice is available to us.
We face the reality of life without fear and doubt.
We choose to rejoice and worship God despite adverse circumstances.
And we remember who God is and what He can do.
We do not rejoice because everything in life is going according to plan.
We rejoice because the Sovereign Lord is our strength.
Circumstances change.
Resources change.
People change.
Health changes.
Life changes.
But God does not.
And because He remains faithful, we can face uncertain days with confidence and declare together with Habakkuk:
“Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”
