"Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice." Philippians 4:4 NKJV
The joy that God gives us is not based on agreeable circumstances but on your relationship with Jesus. This joy means to delight in and take pleasure in. Christians face troubles all over the world but need to rejoice in the trials that they face, because they know God is using these situations to improve their character.
All over the place, we are all suffering the same consequences - Lockdown. The pandemic is a plague that has crept everywhere, and even though there are now vaccines to address this, it will probably be a long time before we can return to what we consider normality.
Tempers flare and frustrations become worse but we have got to go through this. This plague is a killer. Now, who is the author of this? Yes, you're right, the devil. 'The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy.' John 10:10a. He is the culprit that people should be blaming. But be at peace, God has given us a great defence - a secret weapon and that is joy. 'The joy of the LORD is your strength.' Nehemiah 8:10.
It is this joy that we have in God that sees us through each and every situation. This is why the Apostle Paul repeated himself in our text for today. 'Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice.' Note that it says ALWAYS, not just for blessings or happy occasions. In everything.
This is our way out; our exit, our get out of jail free card. It is our freedom from all problems. Joy is our strength. It fixes those difficult times; it fixes those Lockdown blues; it fixes the pain of separation from our loved ones because of the restrictions, the loss of jobs and everything else.
Joy is a choice that we have. We have to choose to rejoice through difficult situations, not because we have them. We all have this choice. If we refuse to make this choice, then we have to go through on our own. If we choose to take it up, we will have the strength to face all things. This is why Paul repeated himself. He knew how important it was to rejoice in all things.
What do you think?
Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard
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