Reflect

How often do your circumstances determine the level of your joy? What does that tell you about the source of your joy?

“How can we rejoice at a time like this?”

If you’ve been watching the news lately, you may be tempted to think, “How can we rejoice at a time like this?” It’s true that there is much for us to be grieved about. Nations are at war, people are dying violent deaths, crime is on the rise, natural disasters are causing devastating damage around the world…it goes on and on. But the truth is, the world has always had trouble in it. Jesus warned us that it would (John 16:33). So, how are we supposed to rejoice in the midst of the troubles?

“Rejoice always”

In Paul’s day, there was trouble and much to be grieved about. Many of the believers in Thessalonica were dealing with persecution for their faith on top of all of the usual difficulties of life. And yet, Paul told them to “rejoice always.”

You may be wondering, how? How can someone rejoice when a loved one dies? How can we rejoice when we’ve received a terminal diagnosis? How can we rejoice when we’ve lost everything we own? How can we rejoice no matter what trials we face? 

The answer lies in the source of our joy. You see, if the source of our joy is our loved ones, then our joy will be absolutely shattered when we lose them. If the source of our joy is our health, then we will be completely devastated when it deteriorates. If the source of our joy is in our possessions, then we will be totally depressed when they are ruined or stolen.

Now, we should enjoy all of those things! They are blessings and gifts from God, after all! But those things shouldn’t be the source of our joy. The source of our joy should only be God and His love for us. We cannot rejoice in every circumstance if our joy doesn’t flow out of our relationship with Him. But if it does, we can find the hope and strength in Him to be joyful in spite of even the worst circumstances. 

It’s important to note that Paul was not suggesting that we paste a superficial smile on our face and fake happiness. No, the reality is, sometimes our joy will mingle with our tears and sorrow. Remember, we grieve sometimes, but not as those who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13).

But when our joy is found in Christ and our salvation, our joy is permanent. It’s eternal. Nothing can take it away from us because nothing else in our lives matters more. Then, we can join the prophet Isaiah and say: “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness…” (Isaiah 61:10).

We can rejoice in our sufferings

It’s only when our joy is found in the Lord that we can rejoice even in our suffering. In Romans 5:1-5, Paul wrote: “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” 

No matter our circumstances we can rejoice always because we are at peace with God through Jesus Christ. We can always rejoice because we have obtained access by faith to God’s grace. We can rejoice always in hope of the glory of God. We rejoice because in Him, we have so much to look forward to! We can even rejoice in our trials because we know that God won’t waste our suffering but will use it to grow us and bring Him glory. So, “rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” (Philippians 4:4).