Rejoice

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:4-7 ESV)

There are times in which it is easy to rejoice, and then there are times in which it is more difficult to rejoice. Right now, we are all in the midst of a time in which it is more difficult to rejoice. The reality is that the effects of the fall are always with us. Sometimes they are less evident to us as tragedy is somewhere else on the globe. We are not as tempted toward anxiety when the world’s most significant troubles seem far away. But as we see the effects of the fall sweeping across our nation, drawing closer to us, we can all be tempted to be anxious. And yet the Bible tells us not to be anxious. Some of you may be thinking, “easier said than done.”

Rejoice…

I agree; it is easier said than done.

But the Bible doesn’t just tell us what to do; it also tells us how to do it.

The Bible doesn’t just give us a prohibition on anxiety; it provides us with a way to help us replace that anxiety with more helpful approaches toward the troubles of life.

The first practice the Bible gives us, instead of anxiety, is the discipline of joy. 

Joy is, in fact, a discipline.  We have often thought of joy as an emotion over which we have no control.  But the Bible tells us that the way we become joyful is through the practice of rejoicing.

“Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!”

 (Psalm 32:11 ESV)

The way we find joy is through the process of rejoicing.  This idea is the opposite of what we may find intuitive.  We are likely to expect our practice of rejoicing to follow the emotion of happiness as if rejoicing is something that spontaneously happens when our hearts are happy.  To be sure, there are instances in which the happiness of our hearts lead us to rejoice.  But there are also cases in which our joy follows the practice of rejoicing.  Through the process of rejoicing, we lead our hearts to joy.

It is through that joy that others see our “reasonableness.”

The word that the ESV translates as “reasonableness” is the Greek word “επιεικης” and it means, gentle, kind, courteous, and reasonable.  Our joyfulness lifts our hearts, and that translates to the way to treat others.  When we are joyful, we are better at loving others.

The other consequence of our joyfulness is that our anxiety gives way to both prayer and thanksgiving.  We pray to God and bring our worries and concerns before Him.  We give thanks to God, and we remind ourselves of the good things that He has brought into our lives even amid troublesome times; as we pray and give thanks, the peace of God guards our hearts and our minds.

God’s peace stands guard over both our hearts and our mind.

Our hearts are guarded by the Lord as the peace of Christ rules in our hearts as Col 3:15 tells us is the case for those of us who know Christ. 

Our minds are guarded by the Lord as we continue to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, as Romans 12:2 tells us.

All of these are a consequence of choosing to rejoice rather than stew in anxiety.

So how are you choosing to rejoice today?

Could we put on some Christian music instead of listening to the news’s 24x7 coverage of the virus?

Can we spend less time stewing over things we can’t control and spend more time in God’s word?

Can we take some time with our families and share what we may be thankful for, even during this season of trouble and spend time rejoicing together?

I hope and pray that we will all draw closer to Him through this.

Grace and peace,

Brian