Joy When the World Shakes
Look at how the Holy Spirit can protect Christians from their outward circumstances. What a bright light can shine within us when everything around us is dark. How firm, how happy, how calm, how peaceful we can be, when the world shakes and the pillars of the earth are removed! Even death itself, with all its terrible influence, cannot stop the music of a Christian’s heart—rather, it makes that music more sweet, more clear, more heavenly. Death’s last act is kind, letting our earthly song melt into the heavenly chorus, our time-bound joys into eternal happiness. Let us be confident, then, in the blessed Spirit’s power to comfort us. Are you aware of your own body’s decline? Do you expect to suffer long nights of languishing and days of pain? Don’t be sad! That bed may become a throne for you. Every pang that shoots through your body may be a refining fire to consume your impurities—a beam of glory to light up the secret parts of your soul. Are your eyes growing dim? Jesus will be your light. Do your ears fail? Jesus’s name will be your soul’s best music, and His person your dearest delight. Socrates used to say, “Philosophers can be happy without music,” and Christians can be happier than philosophers when all our outer causes of rejoicing are taken away. In you, God, my heart will triumph, whatever ills may come from the outside! By your power, oh blessed Spirit, my heart will be exceedingly glad, even if everything fails me here below.
—Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening
The Holy Spirit can give us a peace and joy that no circumstance can steal. Even when the world feels dark, uncertain, or painful, His light can shine within us. For the believer, not even death can silence the song of the heart—it only transforms it into a sweeter, eternal melody in the presence of God.
When our bodies weaken or pain lingers, the Spirit can turn our suffering into something sacred. Fading eyes find light in Jesus. Failing ears find music in His name. Even when earthly reasons to rejoice fade away, our souls can rest in the unshakable joy of knowing Him. In every trial, we can say with confidence, “In You, my heart will triumph.” —DH
—David Hoskins, Founder & Care Guide, Sanctuary Clinics