How I love God Pt 22: Rejoice in the LORD always

Philippians 4:4-8                   4Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again: Rejoice!  5Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near.  6Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  8Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Galatians 5:22-23                  22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control.  Against such things there is no law.

Psalm 146:2                           2I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

This Psalm speaks a great deal about joy, and as a sort of preamble I want to mention that joy and happiness are two entirely different things.  Modern people tend to confuse the two, yet they are separate.  Happiness is a response to circumstance and as such can be fleeting and fickle.  We are happy when our life is going well and sad when it’s not.

Joy, on the other hand is a decision.  We choose to be joyful in spite of circumstances.

Rejoice in the LORD

There are some days when rejoicing feels easy.  The sun is shining, the bills are paid, the family is getting along, work is going well, and the future looks promising.  On days like that, saying, “Rejoice in the LORD!” hardly seems difficult.  But what about the other days?  What about the morning when the phone rings with bad news?  What about the doctor's appointment that does not go as expected, the relationship that suddenly falls apart, the job that disappears, or the night when you lie awake wondering how everything will work out?

It is precisely in those moments that Paul's words in Philippians 4:4 become both challenging and comforting: “Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again: Rejoice!”  Paul did not write those words from a comfortable retirement overlooking the Mediterranean.  He wrote Philippians while experiencing imprisonment and uncertainty.  His circumstances gave him plenty of reasons to complain, yet he deliberately pointed his heart toward joy in the LORD.

The believer does not deny the storms of life.  We acknowledge the pain.  We shed tears and ask questions.  We sometimes admit that we are afraid.  But underneath all of those emotions is the confidence that God has not changed.  That is supernatural joy.  This means that when life hurts, we do not have to pretend everything is fine.  Instead, we can deliberately redirect our attention from what is happening to us toward who God is for us.

When you cannot rejoice about the circumstances, rejoice about the LORD.  He is faithful, sovereign, and present.  He is good.  He has forgiven us, adopted us, and promised never to leave us.

And in Christ, our ultimate future is secure.

Paul repeats himself for emphasis: “I will say it again: Rejoice!”  Sometimes our hearts need to hear the truth more than once.

Let your gentleness be evident

Paul immediately connects rejoicing with our treatment of other people: “Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near” (Philippians 4:5).

A joyful believer is not merely someone who smiles a lot.  Biblical joy changes the way we behave toward people.  It produces gentleness.  The word translated “gentleness” carries the idea of graciousness, patience, and a willingness not to insist on one's rights.   It describes someone who does not have to win every argument, prove every point, or get the last word.  That is especially challenging when we are under pressure, because stress has a way of exposing what is inside us.  When everything is going well, almost anyone can appear patient.  But squeeze us a little, and what is inside often spills out.

Yet Paul says, “Let your gentleness be known to all.”  Why?  Because “The Lord is near.”  If the LORD is near, we do not have to defend ourselves constantly, or we can release our need for revenge, or we can trust Him with the injustice we cannot correct.  Gentleness does not mean weakness.  Jesus was anything but weak.  Gentleness means strength under God's control.  And this is where Galatians 5 becomes particularly important.  Gentleness is listed alongside joy as fruit produced by the Holy Spirit.  The same Spirit who produces joy in us produces gentleness through us.

In practical terms, perhaps the most spiritual thing you can do today is speak kindly to someone who is difficult.  Perhaps it is refusing to return an insult.  Perhaps it is listening before answering.  Perhaps it is forgiving someone who has hurt you.  Perhaps it is remembering that the person irritating you is someone God loves.

Joy and gentleness belong together because a heart secure in God's presence does not have to live in constant combat.

Whatever is noble

“Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

Paul moves from the heart to the mind.  That matters because what occupies our minds eventually influences our attitudes, our words, and our actions.  If we continually fill our minds with fear, resentment, outrage, comparison, and worst-case scenarios, it should not surprise us when anxiety and discouragement begin dominating our hearts.  This is something I need to work on because when in a dilemma I often imagine the worst possible outcome.  We shouldn’t ignore reality, but notice what Paul says:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6).

Notice the movement:  Anxiety → prayer → thanksgiving → God's peace.  Then comes the instruction to think about what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy.  In other words, we bring our worries to God and then refuse to spend the rest of the day rehearsing them.

That takes discipline.  This is not pretending the problem does not exist.  It is refusing to allow the problem to become bigger in our minds than God is.  Proverbs 4:23 says,

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

What we allow to occupy our minds matters and this may mean making some practical changes.  Spend less time consuming material that continually stirs anger and fear.  Spend more time in Scripture.  Pray before reacting.  Count God's blessings.  Talk with mature believers.  Worship even when you do not feel like worshiping.

Sing praise to the LORD

“I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.”

There is something powerful about singing praise.

Think about Paul and Silas in Acts 16.  They had been beaten, thrown into prison, and placed in stocks.  Yet around midnight they were praying and singing hymns to God (Acts 16:25).  Notice the order:  They did not wait for the prison doors to open before praising God.  They praised God in the prison.

When we sing praise in difficult circumstances, we are making a declaration: “My circumstances do not have the final word. God does.”  Perhaps today you feel as though you are in your own prison.  Maybe it is grief.  Maybe it is uncertainty.  Maybe it is financial pressure.  Maybe it is loneliness.  Maybe it is a relationship that has become painfully complicated.  Believer, you may not be able to change your circumstances today, but you can lift your eyes, you can pray, you can remember, and you can sing.

Psalm 146 begins with the simple command, “Praise the LORD.”  The writer then gives us reasons to do it.  God remains faithful.  He upholds the oppressed.  He gives food to the hungry.  He sets prisoners free.  He gives sight to the blind.  He lifts up those who are bowed down.  He watches over His people.

Praise is not empty optimism.  Praise is remembering God's character when circumstances tempt us to forget it.

What about me?

“In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

That is where our rejoicing ultimately rests.  We rejoice because Christ has overcome, and because God's presence is near.  There will be days when rejoicing feels like a choice rather than a feeling.  Choose it anyway.

Here’s some ways to practice joy this week.

1.     Begin each morning with praise.  Before checking your phone or beginning your schedule, name three things for which you can thank God.

2.     When anxiety rises, pray immediately.  Turn the anxious thought into a specific prayer rather than allowing it to circulate endlessly in your mind.

3.     Practice gentleness intentionally.  Choose one difficult relationship and deliberately respond with patience rather than irritation.

4.     Guard your thought life.  Ask whether what you are repeatedly consuming is producing faith, peace, and joy—or fear, anger, and discouragement.

5.     End the day with worship.  Before going to sleep, remember one way God was faithful during the day and give Him thanks.

Rejoicing is not merely something we do when we feel happy.  It is an act of faith.  Every time we rejoice in the LORD, we are saying, “God, You are greater than what I am facing, Your presence is better than what I am missing, and Your promises are more trustworthy than my fears.”