“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” These
are the apostle Paul’s words in chapter 4, verse 4, of his letter to the
Philippians. Superficially, this is a nice verse. Paul is telling us to
rejoice. When one stops to think though, what he is really saying is quite
profound. He is telling us to rejoice always,
not only when we are happy or feel like rejoicing. From a worldly standpoint,
this makes no sense. How can one rejoice even when their car breaks down, or
worse yet, when diagnosed with a terrible disease like cancer? Where does one
find hope?
For the former, perhaps a mechanic or new car battery bring
hope. For the latter, maybe a doctor or new medical treatment. A fixed car, and
even more so, a person cured of cancer, are certainly reasons to rejoice. These
reasons to rejoice are temporary and dependent upon circumstances though. Ultimately,
the car that was fixed will end up in the junkyard and the person cured of
cancer will pass away. These are inevitable. And so, many go through life
rejoicing when there is earthly reason to do so and not rejoicing when life
goes toward valleys, be they big or small, all the while living in ignorance of
the ultimate outcome of everyone’s life.
So, from a worldly perspective, Paul’s words seem strange. Indeed,
it would be a strange verse if Paul just wrote, “Rejoice always.” It makes no
sense to rejoice always. This world that we live in brings constant
tribulation. What he said though was, “Rejoice in the Lord always.” The three words, “in the Lord”, are the key. One
can rejoice always in the Lord. A question still remains though: Why can we
“Rejoice in the Lord always”?
First, it is necessary to understand who this Lord is. He is
a God that loves everyone on this planet deeply. He demonstrated this by coming
to earth in the person of Jesus Christ, dying on the cross for our sins, and
rising again. In his own words, Jesus said, “I have overcome the world” in John
16:33. How triumphant!
And yet, one can’t help but go back to what Jesus said just
a few words earlier in the same verse, “In this world you will have trouble.”
So, should we sink back in despair still? By no means! This is precisely why we
can rejoice always. Those who have put their faith in the risen Jesus can
rejoice always because their joy is transcendent. That is, no matter what
trouble comes about in life, even death, we can rejoice because our joy is
built on the fact that Jesus did “overcome the world” by his death and resurrection
and has promised eternal life to those that trust in him.
However, until one comes to the point of reliance on Jesus,
joy will remain fleeting and tossed about by circumstance. Once that point is
reached though, one is free to “Rejoice in the Lord always”, come what may in
life, as they look back to the cross with peace and forward to eternity with
expectation all the while resting in Jesus in the present.
