Michael Kelley, Guest Contributor
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” Philippians 4:4
Some days it feels possible to “rejoice in the Lord always.” Those are the good days. Everyone is safe. Everyone is healthy. Everyone is generally prosperous. Good days indeed. But those are not most days.
Most days, we look for an exception in Paul’s words. We want Philippians 4:4 to say, “Rejoice in the Lord… mostly.” As it stands, however, the text does not leave us that option. We are to rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS.
You might well be in the midst of a sad season. A painful season. A season in which it feels like work just to get out of bed in the morning. And if you are, this verse is the equivalent of getting a mass-produced greeting card in the mail whose front cover reads, “With Sympathy,” and on the inside has a hand-written message that reads, “Try and look on the bright side!”
How do you deal with such an air-tight command to rejoice in seasons like that?
The first way is to recognize that rejoicing in the Lord does not mean ceasing to be sad. By way of example, consider the shortest verse in the entire Bible: “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). Standing at the tomb of His friend, Lazarus, Jesus wept. In doing so, He comforts us because His tears validate our sadness.
So whatever this unconditional rejoicing is, it does not mean the absence of sadness or grief.
The key to understanding and embracing the unconditional rejoicing Paul prescribes comes in the fact that we are to rejoice always “in the Lord.”
Joy is active; happiness is passive. Happiness happens to you, while joy is something you choose. Happiness is related to circumstances, but true rejoicing comes “in the Lord.” Put another way, happiness is an emotion you experience; rejoicing is a command to be obeyed.
Rejoicing in the Lord is not giving thanks for favorable circumstances; it is choosing to find your greatest source of joy, satisfaction, and contentment in Jesus. While everything else in the world can change in the blink of an eye, Jesus never does. That means that when you rejoice in the Lord, you are putting your joy in a safe place, a place that cannot be touched by the shifting sands of circumstance.
The charge of unconditional rejoicing, then, is an opportunity for self-examination. Where exactly have you invested your joy? Is it in things that will change, or is it in the Lord?
DIG DEEPER
Read “Choosing Joy” by Bryant Wright
