Tag Archives: eternal truth

Choosing Joy, Unlocking the Paradox of Joy in Trials

Rejoicing at all Times Doesn’t Make Sense

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What do we Rejoice?

The Bible has commands which just don’t make common sense. They’re out of this world. Commands which require us to take hold of something eternal in order to even comprehend, much more to obey them.

Like this one:  Rejoice Always (I Thessalonians 5:16 NASB.)

Just found out a very good friend of mine has a mass on their chest. They go in for a biopsy on Thursday.

A marriage is in trouble. A job was lost. Relationships are broken. A long-time friend died of a brain tumor. Loved ones are sick. People are in deep emotional pain.

Yet, we’re to rejoice always. Rejoice what? Certainly not our circumstances.

Then what do we rejoice? What can we grab hold of from God’s greater, eternal story to rejoice in? The story God’s writing on human hearts involves far more than just our happy circumstances. We’re complete in Christ[1] and God’s wants us to know it. He’s orchestrating our lives to  free us  from the false affections of a happy life.

Our joy must come from the Lord. We’re to rejoice in Him. And as we joy in Him, the whole world is unlocked for us to enjoy. After all, God created sunsets, puppies, babies, flowers, sex and chocolate. We’re designed to delight in the Lord first, above all else, and then to joy in His creation. If we get the order wrong, let’s be honest, we’re idolaters.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! (Philippians 4:4 NASB)

What is Rejoicing?

Rejoicing means to be full of joy, to be cheerful, to be exceeding glad and calmly happy.

Let these meanings sink in. Savor them. Allow them to wash over your heart. Imagine being:

  • Full of Joy
  • Cheerful
  • Exceedingly Glad
  • Calmly Happy

Always.

We’ve longed for this quality of glorious satisfaction, but we thought things had to go well in our lives to get there. At least I did.

God is Joy. In His presence, Joy is full.[2] There’s a way to cultivate a lifestyle of rejoicing which isn’t dependent on the shifting sands of day to day living. There’s a way to be full of joy, cheerful, exceedingly glad and calmly happy every moment of every day. It must be possible. God commanded it.

How do we Cultivate a Lifestyle of Rejoicing in the Lord?

What James writes about joy is bizarre, especially if we’re looking for good circumstances to maintain our feelings of well-being:

“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter varies trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you might be perfect, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4 NASB.)

Trials test our faith.  As we learn to celebrate in times of great opposition, endurance grows. Rejoicing brings the intimacy of our Lord into every crevasse of our most difficult situations, flooding our hearts with joy. The more we experience the amazing, paradoxical transformation of grief to gladness by the mere presence of Almighty God, the more we realize we lack nothing. This world doesn’t bring contentment. We’re joyous because He is near.

This isn’t easy.  But, Graham Cooke says no circumstance or person has the power to steal our joy unless we allow it. Even in nightmare scenarios, rejoicing pulls us above the circumstances and our negative mindsets.[3]

Perhaps our goal is not just to get through what we’re experiencing, but to enjoy the presence of the Lord in whatever we’re experiencing. Rejoicing in the Lord always.

Challenge  

Is there a situation or a person which is trying to steal your joy? Will you choose to rejoice in the Lord in spite of what’s going on?

Spend some time now asking for the Lord to cheer your heart with His nearness. Rejoice in Him in spite of how you feel.

Peter writes, “but to the degree that you share the suffering of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation (I Peter 4:13 NASB).  

To what degree should we keep on rejoicing? To the degree in which we share in the sufferings of Christ.

To Peter, not only did suffering and rejoicing go hand in hand, there was a direct correlation of one to the other.

Prayer  

Lord, this trial, these trials have been going on so long. You know. Sometimes I lose hope they’ll ever get better. Yet, life keeps coming. It doesn’t stop for us to catch our breaths. These things don’t make me happy, but I’m seeing something glorious happen in spite of them. Your nearness is bringing gladness to every situation. I can rejoice in You and be cheerful even in the miry pit of hopeless dreams. Even when the unthinkable happens, You fill my heart with joy.

 I’m a container of your Joyous Presence. You indwell me.[4] May I yield to your Spirit in every situation that your Joy may flow. Joy inside . Joy overflowing. Rejoicing always, in You.

[1] Colossians 2:10

[2] Psalm 16:11

[3] Times of Refreshing, Graham Cooke

[4] Galatians 2:20

Novels by the Author:

Beyond Time

Hope Remains

Loved by God, Loved in spite of how we feel

When I Don’t Feel God’s Lovingkindness

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O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly;  My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water.  Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory.  Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You.  Psalm 63:1-3

As the sun warms my face, on a brisk, fall morning in the mountains of North Carolina, I read about God’s lovingkindness toward us.

David was in the wilderness when he penned the Psalm 63 and he compared his longing soul to dry, cracked soil. He was in desperate need of God’s presence, His Rivers of Living Water. (John 7:37-38)

I can relate to David’s desperate longings for God, but what catches my attention is the phrase “lovingkindness.”  David says it’s better than life itself.

Lovingkindness. What does it really mean? I’ve heard it said that if love is compared to a piece of freshly baked bread, slathered with butter. Lovingkindness is like adding strawberry preserves to what’s already succulently delicious.

The Hebrew word used here means goodness, faithfulness and kindness.

Jesus tells us God’s love for us is as great as the Father’s love for Him. (John 15:9) Paul uses words about God’s love for us which conger images of an ocean of love, beyond our understanding. (Ephesians 3:16-21)

When life is good, I can recognize God’s lovingkindness. However, in hard times, I don’t always feel loved, mostly because I don’t feel lovable.

Two situations come to mind.

  • when I fail
  • when I’m hurt.
When I Fail

I hate failing. I’ve had failures as a husband, as a father, as a son, as a brother, as an employee and an employer, as a friend, etc. Failure can cause me to feel unlovable. How can I be loved when I’ve performed so poorly?

As I write, the Holy Spirit reminds me:

I’ve been united with Christ in his death and resurrection. (Romans 6) I’ve been raised with Christ and seated with him in heavenly places. (Ephesians 2:6) In spite of my failures, I’m perfectly loved because my life is hidden with Christ (Colossians 3:3-4) Even though, in this temporal realm, I’m far from perfect, God loves me as much as He loves Jesus (John 15:9).

And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach. Colossians 1:21-22

In Christ, I’m holy, blameless and beyond reproach. When I see this, and believe it by faith, I begin to feel God’s lovingkindness, even in my failures. There are truths about me in Christ which can’t change because they are eternal.

When I’m Hurt

Another time I have a hard time embracing God’s lovingkindness for me is when I’ve been hurt. Being hurt can cause deep emotional pain, making me feel rejected and unlovable, even by God.

When I invite God into my pain, I do sense His presence and comfort.  I’m learning not to rely on the love of others for my value.

What helps is to realize the surpassing greatness of God’s love compared to even our dearest earthly relationships.  All human relationships must be secondary to our relationship with God. In fact, in Luke 14:26 Jesus says, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”

Compared to God’s great love, human love is like hate. God’s lovingkindness far exceeds all human affection. When I get a grasp of the expanse of His surpassing love for me, I’m filled with Joy, even in the most difficult human hurts.

More and more I seek love only from Him. This frees me up to love others for their sake, not for what I can get out of the relationship.

Better Than Life

God’s love overshadows everything about us. And when life is hardest, His lovingkindness shines even brighter. As a diamond sparkles against a dark background, God’s love is more brilliant in our darkest days.

Prayer: Lord, I rest in your love right now. I desire to walk in your love throughout the day. Even when I go through hard times, your love shines brighter and brighter. You are faithful. You are good. You are kind.

You love me.

Your lovingkindness is everlasting. (Psalm 136)

Your lovingkindness is better than life.

Please keep me aware of you and your love moment by moment.

Amen