Rejoice Always!Sýnishorn

Day 4: Your Joy and Strength Go Hand-in-Hand

The world will give you a number of reasons you shouldn’t rejoice, but the truth is that rejoicing is powerful. The apostle Paul’s example confirms that choosing to rejoice can affect your entire situation, and he encouraged the Philippine church to rejoice because he knew rejoicing would make them strong. If you want to experience the strength and power of God, choose to rejoice regardless of what’s going on in your situation.

You may be wondering, So what do I rejoice about? On Day 1, we learned about several different characteristics of God that we can rejoice about. We’re going to revisit the book of Philippians and discover even more reasons we can rejoice.

Rejoice When You Pray

In Philippians 1, the apostle Paul was writing to the church in Philippi while being held in a terrible prison. He was locked in chains and lived in deplorable conditions. Although he was in this seemingly impossible situation, Paul chose to keep going while encouraging his fellow believers, mentioning the words “joy” and “rejoicing” 19 times in this letter. The first instance is in verse 4, which says:

Always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy.

— Philippians 1:4

When Paul prayed for this church, he prayed for them with joy. He didn’t pray for the church because he felt depressed or burdened, but he prayed for them from a place of joy. His example should instruct the way we pray too. When we pray for our loved ones — or anyone for that matter — we should pray with joy just as Paul prayed for the church in Philippi. Using your faith and joy as you pray is so powerful, and that’s exactly what Paul was doing as he determined to pray in that terrible prison.

Rejoice Even When Things Are Not Perfect

In Philippians 1:18, we see another important decision Paul made about choosing to rejoice instead of giving into worry and strife. He heard that people were preaching the Gospel from envy and strife, and while it hurt him to hear this news, Paul made a choice to rejoice in the fact that the Gospel was still being preached. Paul chose to rejoice despite what people were doing. When the situation didn’t change right away, he nonetheless made the decision to rejoice over and over again.

Is there a situation in your life you need to re-evaluate? Maybe the circumstances aren’t perfect, but there is something good being done nevertheless. Think about something you can rejoice about. Choose to rejoice because the joy of the Lord will give you strength, and His joy and laughter act like a healing medicine inside you.

Rejoice When People Are United

Philippians 2:2 tells us about yet another way we can rejoice. It says:

Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one reward, of one mind.

When Paul wrote this to the Philippian believers, he was urging them to be like-minded, to have the same love for one another, and to be of one accord. He told them that if they did this, it would bring him great joy. Remember, Paul was still in prison at this time. Although he couldn’t go in person to visit the church, he let them know that simply hearing about how in harmony they were with each other would bring him great joy.

Just like Paul rejoiced over this unity, we can rejoice about this too. When other people are forgiving one another and relationships are being restored, the redemptive power of our God is at work — and we need to rejoice!

Questions to Consider:

1. How does the way Paul prayed for the church in Philippi instruct the way you should pray?
2. How can you experience the fullness of the strength and power of God?