Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Philippians 4:4
There is a very dangerous place that Christians can often get trapped in if we are not careful. The place is called “the island of frustration.” Being frustrated is a very natural thing. There will be times when nothing seems to go your way, everything is falling apart, and the world seems to be against you. One of my favorite things to do is to get on Facebook or Twitter and see how many people are putting their frustrations on the web for the world to see. Just recently I had a conversation with a Christian friend who was constantly venting his frustrations on Facebook. This is a man that is a faithful follower of Christ, but if you read his status updates you would never know it. The majority of the posts were about how much he hated his job. However on any given day someone could read about how much he hated the weather, the traffic, the food he was eating, and even people who he called out by name! Some of the things that got posted on his page were shocking. When I asked him about all of the negative frustrations that he seemed to enjoy putting on Facebook his answer was “Just because I am a Christian doesn’t mean I have to be happy all the time.” I responded by telling him that he had 493 friends on Facebook who probably thought that he was never happy based on his status updates. I agree that even the strongest Christian gets frustrated every once in a while. The question is should we broadcast our frustration for the world to see? In my opinion the answer is no. I also believe that if we had the ability to ask the Apostle Paul, his answer would be no as well. My friend’s response about being happy all the time brought me a very simple verse of scripture. Philippians 4:4 is very easy to read and understand but it may be one of the hardest verses of scripture to live by.
Paul spends the entire book of Philippians writing about things like advancing the Gospel, living in Christ, humility, and even having the same attitude as Jesus. When Paul writes the words rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice there is one word that stands out among the others. The word “always” is a very deep word. Webster’s dictionary defines the word always as; “at all times, forever, at any rate, in any event.” When Paul wrote this verse to the Philippians he was literally telling them that there is nothing that should stand in the way of rejoicing in the Lord. The word rejoice literally means “to give joy.” if we combine the two definitions then we realize that Paul is telling Christians to give joy in the Lord at all times, forever, at any rate, in any event. As Christians we are called by God to give joy in the Lord forever. Who do we give this joy to? Everyone should be a recipient of the joy that we have in the Lord. The Lord has given us joy because of His saving work on the cross, His justification, His graciousness, His mercy, and His sanctification. Because of our faith in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection we freely receive the joy that comes from all of these things! The work, love, and word of Christ should be the thing that we broadcast to the world through every outlet. If you don’t believe me, then read Philippians 4:5; “Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.” Even the Apostle Paul tells the Philippians what should be displayed… GRACE! Why? Because the Lord is near and as Christians we want everyone to see the joy we have in Him even before He gets here.
What do people see when they see you; a person of joy or a person of frustration? When people look at the things you post for the world to see; do they see someone rejoicing in the Lord or someone frustrated with life? Frustration is natural, but it should always be overtaken by the joy of the risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Now go and REJOICE!
Tags: Brad O'Kelley, Connections, Devotional, Roswell Street Baptist Church
Well stated!