Rejoice!

Devotional Reading: Be cheerful with joyous celebration in every season of life. Let joy overflow, for you are united with the Anointed One ! Philippians 4:4 TPT

Let’s take a flash back to Paul. He’s in prison. Not for a crime but for speaking about Jesus. He may be executed. He writes to his friends in Philippi, “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4 NIV). Then he sounds like your mum because he repeats himself, just in case you aren’t listening. “I will say it again: Rejoice!” 

It’s a great verse with a pretty cursive font: “Rejoice in the Lord always!” It’s perfect for a well designed sticker. Put it on a greeting card? Of course! It makes you sound spiritual if you tell your friends, “Rejoice in the Lord always!”

Full disclosure: It sound a little awkward when people quote that verse to me, especially when I’m in a difficult situation. One reason it sounds like that is because I have to wonder about the person who says it. Do you rejoice in the Lord always? Really? You might wonder about Paul. He told people to rejoice in the Lord when he was in prison! 

But did he rejoice in the Lord when he was in prison? He did. Paul was with his buddy Silas. Can you picture them? Thrown into prison, landing on the cold, hard ground with open wounds, maybe a broken nose, a couple of broken ribs. No doctor, nurse, Band-Aids, or ibuprofen. But we see that they praised God. What was Paul doing in prison? Rejoicing always.

• They were praising God for the who and not the what

• They were praising God before He showed up

• They were praising God and then He showed up

Note this, they did not praise God because He showed up; God showed up because they praised Him. In the kingdom we rejoice regardless of the seeming difficult situation. When we praise Him, He will show up. When He shows up, it will change our thinking. If we change our thoughts, we change our life. 

Prayer and Confession
I rejoice and I praise my God, even when the situation does not seem it. Amen!

Further Reading – Acts 16:20, Ephesians 5:19, James 1:1-2