Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Philippians 4:4 (ESV)
How in the world are we supposed to do this? Rejoice always. Really?
How can I rejoice when someone I love is diagnosed with a serious illness?
Or maybe you are providing long term care for someone and it’s hard.
How can I rejoice when I lose my job?
How, when there are more bills than money, am I supposed to rejoice?
Am I supposed to rejoice even when I am looking at this momentous problem that I don’t know how to fix?
I don’t know if it is possible to rejoice in the midst of chaos. That’s what I think …… probably more than I should. And I bet you think it too.
But look at what Paul says next.
Let your reasonableness [or gentleness] be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. (Verse 5)
The Lord is at hand. He is near. He’s not abandoned you to stare at what seems impossible. He, the always possible God, is in this with you.
Lately, I’ve been trying to teach myself to do something different. When I start to focus on what seems impossible to me, I instead focus on Jesus. I read my Bible, I read other things that remind me of how great God is, I sing and I do something that Paul recommends next.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (Verse 6)
I talk to God. I share my concerns and my fears, and then I give it to him. And sometimes, I thank him for what he is already doing (wish I thanked him more.)
We can’t ignore the things going on in our life. But we can put them in perspective. We can remember that God is the God of the impossible and we can choose to look at who he is instead of what we see with our human eyes. And most importantly, we can go to him and talk to him and rest in his presence.
As Paul says in Verse 7, when we do that the “peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”