Can you still rejoice when everything falls apart?

In Habakkuk 3:1-19, the prophet ends his book with a prayer of bold, unshakable joy — even though hard times are certain. In this study, Dr. Toby Holt traces Habakkuk’s journey from worry to worship.

Habakkuk began his book anxious and confused, troubled that God would let evil go unpunished. By chapter 3 he has changed — not because his circumstances improved, but because he has remembered who God is. He looks back on God’s mighty acts in the past and finds courage for the future. Dr. Holt also corrects the popular saying “God won’t give you more than you can bear,” explaining that God’s promise is not escape from the valley but His presence in it. Habakkuk’s closing words are some of the most defiant joy in all of Scripture.

Questions this study answers:

1. How did Habakkuk move from worry to worship? By remembering God’s faithful acts in the past, he found peace for the present. His circumstances had not changed, but his focus had.

2. Is it true that “God won’t give you more than you can bear”? Not as people often mean it. God does allow more than we can handle on our own, but He promises to carry us through it with His presence.

3. How can we rejoice in hard times? By resting our joy in God Himself rather than in our circumstances. Habakkuk rejoiced in the Lord even when the harvest failed.

“Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines … yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” — Habakkuk 3:17-18 (NKJV)

Speaker: Dr. Toby Holt is the President of New Geneva Theological Seminary, a Reformed seminary in Colorado Springs. He is known for clear, down-to-earth Bible teaching, and his sermons have been downloaded more than 1.9 million times on SermonAudio.

Listen and go deeper: This sermon is part of the Habakkuk Explained study from New Geneva Theological Seminary. Find more verse-by-verse teaching across the Bible at newgeneva.org. To support this teaching ministry, visit newgeneva.org/give.