Rejoice – Phil. 4:4

In Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi, he emphasizes joy or rejoicing throughout the short letter.  It is important to note that Paul is writing from a Roman prison(likely similar to house arrest at that point, but still a Roman prisoner).  If anyone had a reason to be less than joyful, it was Paul.  Yet, he expressed joy and wanted the saints in Philippi to understand that they should also be joyful.  At one point, he reminds them that their citizenship is(present tense) in heaven(3:20) and that their bodies would(future tense) be transformed into a body just like Jesus(incorruptible, eternal, never sick, never die, etc.).  Given those current and future blessings, they should be standing firm in the Lord because who would want to miss out on what they had?

It is shortly after this that Paul tells them to rejoice, but he says more than just rejoice.  He tells them to rejoice (a) in the Lord, and (b) to rejoice always.  He then proceeds to tell them to rejoice again, emphasizing the importance of the point he was trying to make.

Rejoice Always

There are times in life when rejoicing is easy: landing that first job out of college or high school; getting married; welcoming a new child into the world, etc.  It’s always easy to rejoice when great things are happening to us or around us.  Paul certainly didn’t have to tell these people to rejoice at those times; rejoicing then would be automatic. But what about when great things aren’t happening in our lives?  Clearly Paul must have understood that there are things that occur during the course of our lives that are not joy-inducing or rejoice-worthy.  What about those times?

What about when: you lose a job; you are still single, but want to be married; your child is sick or injured; a loved one passes away, etc.?  Surely we are not supposed to be rejoicing at those times, right?  Wrong.  We are supposed to rejoice in both good times and bad times.  It is important to understand just what it means to rejoice, even in the bad times, so let’s look at that.

When Bad Times Happen

It’s easy to rejoice when things are going well, but how do we rejoice when something bad happens?  How is it possible to rejoice, for example, when a loved one dies?  This will depend on a variety of factors, but let’s look at one specific and one in general.

A person who passed away was a faithful child of God(to the best of your knowledge) – When someone we know who was faithful to the Lord passes away, there is a sadness(which is undeniable), but it is not a matter of hopelessness.  In I Thess. 4:13, Paul wants the saints in Thessalonica to understand that they do not grieve like others who have no hope.  Paul did not say that they did not grieve, or that they were not supposed to grieve, but that they were to grieve differently.  The reason they grieved differently is because they had a hope(desire filled with expectation) that when Jesus returns, that person who died will be raised from the dead and taken by Jesus to heaven to be with God for the rest of eternity(I Thess. 4:14-18).  Although there is a sadness at their departure, there is also a joy for that person because we believe that they are on their way to heaven(after the return of Jesus).

Just about anything bad that happens(catch-all) – If you are a faithful child of God, your sins are forgiven . . . period.  Nothing and no one can change that(other than you sinning and separating yourself from God).  Nothing can take away your forgiveness.  Nothing can take away your salvation.  Nothing can take away your relationship with God(Rom. 8:38-39).  Nothing.  And that should be what is MOST important in our lives(our relationship with God).  It is when we allow other things to push our relationship with God to the side that we can find it difficult or impossible to rejoice in all circumstances.

What I Am NOT Suggesting

I am not suggesting that God’s people should be walking around with fake smiles on the faces and fake rejoicing in their hearts.  As God’s people we should always be sincere and genuine.  And there will be times when that will include sadness or grief.  However, just because we are sad or grieving does not mean that we are not also joyful.  The grief, sadness and loss we feel at times does not overwhelm our joy; it co-exists with our joy.

I am not suggesting that nothing bad will ever happen in your life.  Some in the religious world like to teach that if you are faithful to God, everything will go well in your life(and who wouldn’t want that to be true).  However, this is clearly not the case.  Jesus told His disciples that if they follow Him, the world will hate them just like the world hated Him(John 15:18).  Later, He told Peter about how he would die(John 21:18-19).  Stephen was stoned for preaching the gospel(Acts 7:57-60).  The apostle James was killed for his faith(Acts 12:2).  These and many others died because of their faith in God.  Others suffered and continue to suffer today because of their faith.  Others suffer for reasons not related to their faith. 

Sadness and grief will happen in our lives.  Our response to it is what matters; we need to turn to God.  When Jesus was facing crucifixion, He prayed to His Father(Luke 22:39-46).  Jesus told His disciples to pray so that they would not fall into temptation(Matt. 26:41).  This would include the temptation to turn away from God in their grief.  James told his readers to pray if they were troubled(Jam. 5:13).  Sadness and grief should not lead us away from God; it should lead us to God.

Rejoice Always(in the Lord)

Paul said it again, so I will do the same(Phil. 4:4).  When we are rejoicing, we are rejoicing in the Lord.  This is an important distinction.  We are not rejoicing in ourselves(i.e. who we are or what we have accomplished).  Instead, we are rejoicing in the Lord.  We are thinking about Him, not ourselves.   Our focus is on Him, not ourselves.  We think about Who He is as well as what He has done, is doing and will do for us(past, present and future).  This does not mean that we never think about ourselves or what we are dealing with in our lives.  What it does mean is that we never lose sight of Him.  The cares of this world should NOT take our focus off the Lord(Matt. 13:1-23).  If anything, the cares of this world should cause us to hyper-focus on Him.

I am not suggesting that this will always be easy.  Suffering is painful.  But we must not allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by the cares of this world.   We need to put our faith, hope and trust in the Lord.  This will go a long way toward helping us to be able to rejoice.  So let’s rejoice always . . . in the Lord.