Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Rejoicing When Things are Tough

“Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:4-7 KJV

Paul penned this to the Philippians a very long time ago while he was in prison. For many times through out my life this has been both a comfort and a word of encouragement, until recently. For the last few years of my desert experience, I have had contentions with this statement. How am I supposed to rejoice always? This was an impossible command. Like so many other commands that seemed to contradict themselves, this one was impossible to follow when you were down and life weighed a million pounds. Oh I know that God was still working in my life and others lives. In truth, I had no doubt that a lot of the trouble I was wading through was not only for my benefit but for others around me. Many others.
But I came back to there was no way I could honestly be happy, joyful, and rejoicing in my trouble. I was down right sad, mad, and frustrated. Life wasn’t fair and mine wasn’t getting any better. No. Rejoicing was not in my vocabulary. How could Paul even ask that of us?
The song came up the other day, just as a really low point in my life hit again. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. Bah Humbug.
As I walked, cried, and sang with the song, the light lit and I suddenly understood. The command wasn’t to be happy about my sorrows, troubles, pains. Paul was told God’s grace was enough and that he could get through what ever it was that ailed him. What made me think that making a joyful noise (rejoicing) had anything to do with being happy? The command was “don’t moan, cry, whine, mumble, grumble, and complain.” Is that not what the children of Israel kept getting in trouble for in their desert experience?
Okay, so what did the command mean for me to do? I was to focus on God. To rejoice in what we have received from God, the promise of Eternal Life with Him in the new world, the promise of a mansion in heaven. This trouble is momentary but if we focus on this moment’s troubles, we loose sight of the bigger picture and we loose hope. And hope leads to faith and faith to the things unseen, such as God and heaven. Without hope, we have nothing but despair.
So the command as I have seen it is rejoice anyway. Even if you are sad, rejoice by making joyful noises that praise God specifically and what He has done in your life. Remember His grace to you and rejoice for we still have hope even in our lowest times. Rejoicing in God’s love and grace, even if all we can see is the cross, will bring us back from the brink of our own despair and we will have hope. God’s hope. The hope of the future. Our future with Him for and eternity of a wonderful life and a mansion in heaven that Christ has prepared for us. Hope.
So REJOICE and MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE, even if it is dripping with tears of our sorrows, for we have Hope.