The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"The Choice to Rejoice… and Again"
"Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice" (Philippians 4:4).
Why did the Apostle Paul repeat his command that born again believers make the choice to rejoice in all things, at all times? One answer might be Paul calls us to rejoice in both the person of our God and His working on our behalf.
"Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy" (Psalm 43:4).
"Because Thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice" (Psalm 63:7).
To rejoice in the Lord personally means that we determine to trust in His character and the relationship Scripture promises believers have with Him through the Lord Jesus Christ. Whether in times of happiness, sadness, or the mundane, the "Who?" of God abides as perfectly faithful and willing to be and do all we require. The more such truth settles into our hearts and minds, the more we find ourselves able to follow the old adage: "When we cannot understand the ways of God's hand, we trust the character of His heart. We choose to rejoice in Him.
"Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation" (Habakkuk 3:17-18).
We also choose to rejoice in the "What?" of our Heavenly Father's ways and working. This may involve a more challenging mandate. In our present existence, our Father administers and allows not only the pleasant, but as the prophet said of Israel, "Thou hast showed Thy people hard things" (Psalm 60:3). We require both the pleasant and the painful in order to know and walk with God. "We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). If the Lord Himself directly administers hardship, or if He allows difficulties, countless promises regarding His perpetual working on our behalf fill the pages of Scripture. Our calling involves remembering and affirming His promised actions, choosing to rejoice in what may seem to be a stilled Hand that is actually never still. "God… worketh all things after the counsel of His own will… all things work together for good to them that love God" (Ephesians 1:3; 11; Romans 8:28).
"The choice to rejoice" does not mean that we choose to feel happy. Joy, as defined by Scripture, involves far more than merely happy feelings. Joy in God and His working rather constitutes an inner conviction of assurance that can be known even when we feel the precise opposite of what is usually considered as joy. "As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing" confessed the Apostle of a rejoicing through Christ that transcends emotion and sensation (II Corinthians 6:10). Indeed, if we could find the most joyful believer on the planet in this, or in any moment, it might well be one wracked with pain and sorrow, but who nevertheless lifts heart and voice to rejoice in his Lord and his Lord's way. In response to the Holy Spirit's guidance and enabling, He chooses to believe that God's joy is at hand and in heart no matter what. Because it is. Because He is. "The joy of the Lord is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10).
The matter of joy for the believer involves the fact that God can lead and empower us to rejoice in all things, and again, to rejoice. This is truth. This is fact. This is reality. Our Father makes no commands that cannot be obeyed through the power of the Holy Spirit. That which must become more factual is our awareness of such grace given, and such grace present to enable our choice to rejoice in our Lord, and again, to rejoice…
"Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit."
(Romans 15:13)
"I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God."
(Isaiah 61:10)
Weekly Memory Verse
The LORD is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works.
(Psalm 145:17).
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