Rest – Rejoice

The Apostle Paul, church planter and missionary, had a message to the six churches he established: Come on guys, let us rejoice. He was saying, I rejoice, you rejoice, we rejoice together, rejoicing is what he expected them to do.

Now Paul didn’t have it all that great. He was whipped, stoned to death, beat up, shipwrecked, put in prison, misunderstood, misrepresented, his closest colleagues turned on him, still he preached and practiced the message of rejoicing. Rejoicing was a lifestyle for him. It was not a passing fad, or the latest “get God to do something for me” ploy. No, it is the way he rolled.

I would like to suggest it is the main reason that he did not grow bitter, lose hope, or give up. He had a pattern of rejoicing in his life. This attitude was able to keep him from despondency, depression and despair. Amid great hardship, extreme personal discomfort, and pressure from every side, he kept his cool. He was able to keep his message on point because he filtered what ever was happening to him through the filter of rejoicing. When we rejoice in the middle of good times, we keep our head and do not grow proud. When we rejoice in the middle of bad times, we keep our hearts from growing hard and brittle. Rejoicing is the one thing we can do no matter where we are or what is happening. We don’t need money, special skill, or social status to rejoice. We just need to make a choice to give praise, to find the good, to look beyond the circumstances and give thanks. This one attitude shift will give you rest in your soul. Rejoicing will make your life worth living. It will help you advance in your career, solve marriage problems, and you will laugh more.

Try it for one day and see the difference it makes. Why not choose tomorrow as the day of rejoicing. Choose to rejoice when you get up. Rejoice as you scrape the ice off your windshield. Rejoice when the guy cuts you off on the way to work. When the coffee is not made at work, rejoice that you have the privilege of doing this for your colleagues. Rejoice when the phone rings. Actually, let it ring for two times before answering: smile on the first ring, then rejoice for the blessing of technology on the second ring, ok now answer it. Keep doing rejoicing throughout the day and experience a powerful life change. It will be hard at first. We are conditioned to complain. Complaining is easy, but rejoicing is life giving. Try it. Watch joy flood your soul.

For supplementary readings look up, Romans 15:10, 2 Corinthians 13:11, Galatians 4:27, Philippians 4:4, Colossians 2:25, 1 Thessalonians 5:16.

This Sunday we will have one of my best friends bring the sermon at KCF. Pastor Glen is one of those guys that never complains, find joy in every aspect of life, and has a habit of rejoicing throughout the day. Don’t miss this Sunday. You will be blessed if you come.

Jim Reimer, Pastor

Oct 3, 2019