The Mountains Break Forth into Singing

May the God of all hope fill you with joy and peace as you trust in Him. Romans 15:13

Sometimes I don’t feel much joy and peace, times when my very soul feels depleted. I have a notion that many people could say the same thing. At times, life circumstances rob our joy. There are also life circumstances that disturb our peace. Try as we might, we can’t seem to find a simple formula that fills us up again when our joy is depleted, when our peace is gone.

We must not despair during those hard times, knowing that joy and peace will return and, once again, our souls will be filled with all things good. The absence of joy and peace for a time is normal. It is a hazard of living in an imperfect world and being among imperfect people.

Joy and peace will return for those who trust in God. It works every time. I am grateful that, whatever trials we face, whatever rough roads we travel, “the God of all hope fills us with joy and peace when we trust in Him.”

And when our joy is restored and our peace has returned to us, the prophet Isaiah speaks words of grand celebration:

You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Isaiah 55:12