First published in deeper Christian (https://deeperchristian.com/12-reflections-on-the-command-to-rejoice-always/)
For most of the culture today, it appears that joy is elusive.
Turning to entertainment, impurity, drugs, sports, relationships, shopping, or whatever else – all in the hope of finding deep soul satisfaction.
Perhaps it is the confusion that joy is an emotion – a desire to find continual happiness – and thus always on the search for the next emotional high.
But the only way we are going to experience joy is when we realize the source of it is not in circumstances, situations, or emotions. The source of joy is God Himself. He is the fullness of joy.
Psalm 16:11 tells us “You [God] make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
We must remember that the fullness of joy is found in the presence of God … and we won’t find it anywhere else.
Paul tells us in Galatians that joy is a fruit of the Spirit (5:22). Joy is not something we produce or whip up – joy is something that comes as a natural outflow of having the Spirit of God residing within us. When we are IN Christ and He is IN us, we find the fruit of His Spirit being produced within us.
Regardless of circumstance, situation, or trial – we can have joy within our lives because we set our gaze on Christ and declare our trust in Him, no matter what we face. It was from a prison cell that Paul commands us to “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4).
Again, joy is not about emotions, feelings, circumstances, or trials – it is about a steadfast trust in our God amidst the difficulties.
Joy Amidst Suffering
Paul often talked about rejoicing amidst trials, difficulty, suffering, and persecution.
- 1 Thessalonians 1:6 – And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit …
- 2 Corinthians 8:1–2 – We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.
- Colossians 1:24 – Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church …
- Romans 5:3–4 – Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope …
- Romans 12:12 – Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
And three times Paul explicitly commands believers to rejoice.
- Philippians 3:1a – Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. …
- Philippians 4:4 – Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 – Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
In all three verses above, the main verb (“rejoice”) is in the present, active, imperative. An imperative is a command – so we are commanded to “rejoice always.” The active voice tells us that we are responsible for the action – we are commanded to choose joy and rejoice always. And the present tense in Greek is the idea of the “ever-present tense” – in other words, whenever you live in the present this action should happen (and though many of us dwell upon the past or future, we live in the present).
So Paul commands us to choose joy every moment of our lives. We are to rejoice regardless of circumstance, situation, or emotion.
Yet, how can we practically “rejoice always” in all situations, every moment of the day? Here are five out of twelve reflections and ideas how (the rest will be featured in our nes…
12 Reflections on Paul’s Command to “Rejoice Always”
1. We must know the source of joy
We will never experience joy if we don’t know where it comes from.
True joy (and the fullness of it) comes from God alone. He is the fullness of joy as Psalm 16:11 tells us. Though I quoted it above, read it afresh: “You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
You can see this idea in our passage in Philippians 4:4. The command is to rejoice “in the Lord.”
Our joy and rejoicing comes from and is found in Jesus. He is the source of all joy. And if the fullness of joy is found in His presence and He does not change (see Hebrews 13:8), then the only place we should ever seek joy is in Him.
William Barclay (a biblical commentator) said it this way: “Christian joy is independent of all things on earth because it has its source in the continual presence of Christ.”*
2. Joy is a fruit … the natural outflow of the life of the Spirit within us
As I mentioned earlier, joy is not something we produce within us, nor is it a facade or smile we put on to make people think we have joy. Joy is an evidence of the life of Christ within us.
When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, what comes out is His “fruit” – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).
We don’t have to strive to replicate or produce it, it will naturally bear itself as long as we remain (abide) in Him.
Just as a healthy tree doesn’t have to work, strive, or grit its teeth to produce fruit – if it is a healthy tree, at a certain time of year, it is guaranteed to produce fruit – because of the life within it.
We are told in John 15, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. … Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing (John 15:1, 4-5).
The job description of the branch is not to produce fruit (that will come as a natural result of abiding) – the job description is staying/remaining/abiding in the vine. For it is only in the vine that the branch receives life. And when that branch abides (remains) in the life of the vine, it will bear fruit.
In the same way, God, through His Spirit, wants to produce (and be) the joy in our lives.
Joy will be evident in our lives when we abide in the source of life: Jesus.
3. Joy is not about circumstances but a purposeful response amidst the circumstances
Being joyful doesn’t mean you need to be ignorant or ignore what is going on around you, rather it is about having the proper perspective amidst whatever life throws at you.
Joy is the set of the sail of the soul in the wind of circumstance.
Joy is living from a new heavenly perspective.
When Paul commands us to rejoice always, he is not giving us a cute phrase that we can put upon our refrigerator – he is writing this with a beaten back sitting in a prison cell.
Paul knew great suffering. In 2 Corinthians 11:24–28, Paul recounts his struggles by saying, “Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.”
Yet it same man who despite all those painful struggles, commands from a prison cell, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” (Philippians 4:4).
Paul wasn’t ignorant of his situation or the pain he experienced, but rather determined to “leap for joy” no matter what he faced.
Jesus gave the same commission in Luke 6:22-23, “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.”
4. Rejoicing doesn’t have to make sense … but it does need to happen (always)
It encourages me that “rejoicing always” doesn’t always have to make sense. But whether joy makes sense in the situation or not, I am still called to do it.
Because joy is not an emotion like happiness, you can rejoice even with tears in your eyes and sorrow in your soul. So whether you feel happy or sad, you are still called to rejoice.
We must decide to rejoice in every moment – good, bad, or ugly – even if it doesn’t make sense … perhaps especially if it doesn’t make sense. To rejoice is a command. We must obey.
There are times when we must command our minds or souls to come in alignment with truth. In the Psalms, you find that the Psalmist will do that very thing. For example in Psalm 42:11, the Psalmist asks himself, “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?” Rather than live in self-reflection or the despair, he commands his soul in the second half of the verse, “Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.”
Regardless of how we might feel, let us choose to obey the command to rejoice always, in all circumstances.
To be continued…