Joy and Peace Through AdversitySample

Rejoice Always

Philippians 4:4 says, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” 

This letter presents a man in the midst of adversity. His assistant and the only person who could serve him almost dies, and he chooses to send him back to comfort the church of Philippi. In the letter, he tells the Philippians, that through every circumstance they should know what they have in Christ. It is a joy that no one can take away from them. Later he reminds them, from prison, that they should rejoice in the Lord, always. Life with Christ is not about rejoicing only on Sundays when we attend church. We rejoice always. 

The key to living with joy and peace in the midst of our circumstances is choosing not to be anxious. Paul tries to tell them that being in prison, nevertheless, has joy. He tells the Philippians not to be anxious about anything.

How can we live like Paul? We can live a life with joy, regardless of the situation. Life in the Spirit does not depend on what happens in the material world but on seeing how God perceives things. God always sees things resolved even when we are in the midst of a problem. For Him, it has already been solved. God does not see things as you see them in your present; for Him, they have already happened. For God, your problem has passed. It is over. God moves in the eternal but at the same time, He is moving right now, in the present. His dimension goes beyond the concepts of distance, time, and matter. 

We must learn to perceive things as God does, to live life in the Spirit and learn that reality is not what our eyes see. The reality is such, as the Scriptures teach, that the unseen has value and permanence. The unseen is eternal. We can pray the way Paul asks us to, with thanksgiving, when we learn to focus on the eternal. Our prayers should be affirmations of what God conceives—prayers of gratitude.