Always Joy

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

(Philippians 4:4, NKJV)

‍Our days are made of dualities, rarely if any do we find a situation or something which is only one sided.  It is no wonder that we talk of two sides of a coin, heads and tails.  Both sides are part of the same coin and without one, the coin is incomplete.  Daily happenings and experiences also seem to carry a similar presentation.  When we think of the day, we also will need to consider the night for it will not be day all along.  The seemingly cyclical nature of life helps us to accept that day leads us to night and in turn the night brings forth the day.  It is valleys that help us appreciate the height of the hills and mountains that rise above. The complementarity of the contrast that we behold, at times appearing as positive or negative is worth embracing as part of life. Though we might like the highs more than the lows, it is foolhardy to remain stuck in only one experience and not give room to the opposing or contrasting side.

 Our reference verse calls us to rejoice and what makes me stop is the word ‘ Always’.  The experiences of life are not homogeneous, they are varied at times in ways that we do not want to look at, yet, we are reminded that in every moment, we should have an attitude of joy, we should rejoice.  Brethren, this challenges me as I swing in the happenings and results of the moment.  When facing hard issues, I tend to focus on the problem ahead rarely seeing the victory at the end.  In such situations, my heart will be down and even discouraged, there is sadness and heaviness of heart. It takes a reframing of the experience to see the other side which is often, not as bad as i am quick to perceive.  Many times we ask how we can rejoice in such situations and one could stop right there feeling, justified that they cannot not to be joyful.  Beloved, God’s word is whole and complete.  Our verse does not tell us to rejoice at what is happening, but our rejoicing must be IN the Lord and right there is the flip.  Our rejoicing is not circumstantial but is in the Lord our God.  Yes, disturbing situations will come our way and we shall hurt, our lives will change oscillating from highs to lows, but these will not be the basis of our joy.  While the changes will tend to take our joy away, we are to remind ourselves that our joy is in the unchanging God, His joy remains through the circumstances of life.  We will not deny the physical and emotional realities of our lives,  the call is for us to focus elsewhere.  The following verses encourage us to talk to God about our struggles, pouring out our anxieties and fears to God in prayer and He in turn, our hearts and minds with His peace which is beyond any human understanding (Philippians 4:6-7).  When we communicate our pains and fears to a loving Father, we can then rest in the assurance that He will take charge.  The bible reminds us that God hears when we cry for help (Psalm 34:7), He hears us even while we are still speaking (Isaiah 65:24).  The thought that He does not need to wait for us to get it all together for Him to act encourages my heart and just taking that in, lifts up my spirit.   

Apostle Peter gives us an assurance that God’s eyes are on His people and His ears are open to their prayer (1 Peter 3:12).  Beloved, even in situations that are difficult, our Father is watching and listening to our prayer, not to keep us there but to deliver us with His victorious right hand.  It is the revelation of this assurance that helps us to rejoice in Him, no matter the circumstance we find ourselves in.  I admit that humanly speaking this is not something we can do, but by the quickening of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, we can turn our eyes to Him who is able to hold us up through the journey of our lives.  In the happenings of our days, it is my prayer that we may keep our focus on God, who does not change but remains a strong tower of our refuge. His joy will be our strength (Nehemiah 8:10).  Beloved, rejoice in the Lord always.

 Thoughts:

What is your reflection of this verse?

Where have you lost your joy?

How do you recover the joy of the Lord?