Living His Word

Isaiah 49:13 ERV: Heavens and earth, be happy!
Mountains, shout with joy!
The LORD comforts his people.
He is good to his poor people.

There is always a reason to be happy. Although the people of God may go through trying times, there is always a reason for joy. We live in a creation controlled by the LORD---and He is good. If the ultimate source and origin of all things is good, if the providential sustainer of all things is good, then there is no reason to allow sorrow and sadness overtake and overwhelm our lives.

Even the heavens and the earth should be happy. The very mountains should shout for joy. This is because the fate of the natural world is bound up with the people of God. If the people of God are benefactors of His grace and mercy, then the natural world will participate in that as well. The Apostle Paul said that although, “Everything God made was allowed to become like something that cannot fulfill its purpose,” a day is coming when everything will “be made free from ruin,” and it will “have the same freedom and glory that belong to God’s children” (Romans 8:20-21). Redemption, in other words, will come to the natural world just as it does to the people of God.

The natural world, however, does not have to wait for that future day before it shouts for joy. Already the LORD is extending His grace and mercy to His people. Already He is comforting His people and being good to them. Although the trials, troubles, and tribulations of life still cause us problems, we are already experiencing the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. The heavens and the earth, then, have good reason to be happy and the mountains have good reason to shout for joy.

You may be going through a lot of trouble right now, but there is still good reason to be happy. The LORD is comforting you and being good to you, despite everything that is going on. This comfort and goodness is merely a foretaste of the comfort and goodness that is yet to be revealed to you.

And if you go outside and listen closely, you may be able to hear the mountains in the distance shouting for joy about you.