“Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice” – Philippians 4:4

 

I once had an appointment to speak to a congregation that was going through some very difficult moments.

But for most of that week, I had also experienced situations that had caused me much sadness and anxiety.

Frankly, I struggled to find the appropriate message for the people of God.

 

But the moment, I stood up to speak, a certain kind of joy suddenly fell upon me like a cloak.

I felt an unusual kind of joy welling up on the inside of me and I started laughing uncontrollably.

At first, the bemused interpreter just stood there unsure of what to say.

Then he also started laughing!

 

Moments later, everyone was laughing, some of the congregants were literally rolling on the floor with laughter!

 

In our meditation verse today, Paul, implores his audience to rejoice in the Lord “always.”

 

Some would probably protest and say, “Come on apostle, please be a little more understanding; things are not easy some days; it is practically not possible to rejoice in the Lord always.”

 

Well, what some people don’t know is that Paul wrote those words from a muddy prison cell in a foreign land, far away from home.

As a matter of fact, he was awaiting execution for preaching Jesus Christ.

 

Now, compare and contrast his situation to what you might be going through right now.

What that shows is that we have absolutely no excuse for not rejoicing in the Lord, always.

 

The Bible says joy is part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit; it is an inside-out kind of thing that has very little to do with what happens on the outside – good or bad.

 

Throughout Bible times, it was God’s statute that celebrations and rejoicing in the Lord had to be a permanent part of personal devotion, liturgy and community life.

That’s why the Old Testament is full of references to the words ‘joy’ and ‘rejoice.’

“My soul shall be joyful in the LORD; I shall rejoice in His salvation” (Psalm 35:9).

 

God is challenging us to let daily rejoicing be part of our daily experience, regardless of what is happening around us.

Let rejoicing be a personal decision; and not something imposed on us by the circumstances that life throws at us.

 

Prayer:

Lord, restore unto me the joy of your salvation.   Whatever the circumstances and the situations I face, I declare that the joy of the Lord shall be my strength, in the Name of Jesus, Amen!