Good morning! It is with joy I share with you our Advent Devotional from Roshni Ruben. She is a junior studying Business Information Systems and Supply Chain. Born in India and raised in Zambia, her experiences that have shaped how she sees people, the world, and her faith. Her relationship with Jesus is central to who she is and guides how she lives, loves others, and navigates every season of life. This week’s theme is joy, I hope you are able to find a piece of joy today after partaking in this message. –Rev. Roshni Ruben
Habakkuk 3:17–18
“Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.”
I find these words from Habakkuk to be one of the boldest declarations of faith in all of Scripture. Everything around him is falling apart. His world is completely barren and yet he says, “I will rejoice in the Lord. I will take joy in the God of my salvation.”
A joy not dependent on circumstances, but on who God is.
I experienced my own “empty field” this year. As internship season hit, I gave it my all, months of applications, interviews, and late nights practicing answers until I could barely keep my eyes open. But rejection after rejection rolled in, each one heavier than the last.
There was one company I wanted the most. I made it through the interviews and waited for the final phone call, thinking this would finally be the yes.
When the call came… it was another no.
I remember standing there, phone in my hand, completely drained, like I had nothing left to offer.
Later that day, a friend said to me, “Roshni maybe God is teaching you that joy cannot come from what you achieve, only from Him.”
Her words felt like a mirror held up to my heart.
This was Habakkuk’s story in my own life:
The fig tree did not blossom.
The vines did not produce.
The fields looked empty.
And still, “yet I will rejoice in the Lord.”
I did not feel joyful that day. But slowly, God began showing me that His “no” was His protection. Months later, when the right opportunity came, one I never would have imagined, I finally understood.
Joy did not come from the internship.
Joy came from the God who never stopped being good, even when I could not see the harvest yet.
Let us pray.
Father, thank You that our deepest joy is found in the salvation we have in Christ. When challenges come and our plans fall apart, remind us that our hope is not in outcomes but in the finished work of Jesus. Teach us to say, like Habakkuk, “yet we will rejoice in the Lord,” because nothing can take away the joy of being redeemed. Help us rest in Your presence, trust Your goodness, and cling to the eternal hope we have in Christ alone.
Amen.