"Rejoice in the Lord e'er. I volition say information technology again: Rejoice!" - Philippians 4:4

When you recall of the word "rejoice," what do you typically think of? Yous might remember of rejoicing as being in a state of constant happiness and celebrating every detail of your life with unending exuberance.

What virtually when you see the Scripture that says "rejoice in the Lord always"? Does that have the aforementioned sentiment every bit the mentioned state of happiness higher up?

Philippians 4:4 has the campaigner Paul telling the church of Philippi, in a letter, to always rejoice in the Lord, e'er celebrate the Lord. This carries the understanding that y'all do it whether y'all want to or non, whether y'all are happy with the Lord or non. When you gloat with the correct thought in listen about how God works, it will be possible to observe ways to rejoice in the Lord.

Let us examine the following passages in Philippians four to see why this advice from Paul is and then profound and how nosotros can agree to this belief of God'south greatness at all times, finding the joy inside building up as nosotros give Him thanks.

What Is the Context of Philippians 4?

The book of Philippians is the apostle Paul's letter to the church of Philippi to share with them wisdom and encouragement for living out their faith in Christ and standing strong when struggles and persecution might occur.

Remember that when information technology came to suffering for your calling, Paul was definitely the proficient. He endured severe persecution for his belief in Christ and phone call to ministry, and so advice from him on rejoicing during trials seems to be a good idea.

Philippians four centers mostly on Paul conveying to the believers what to focus on during times of doubt. He wants them to likewise know that as they go through challenges, they will exist able to exercise more because Christ is in them (Phil. 4:xiii).

The 4th chapter of Philippians also encourages people to non be anxious for annihilation, but to give their needs in prayer to God (Phil. 4:6) and proceeds God's peace in return (Phil. 4:7).

Paul also shared in Philippians 4:11-12 how he has learned to be content where he is because he knows what information technology is like to be hungry and full, to suffer and to grow.

Even so, with Philippians four:4, Paul only declares that we "rejoice in the Lord, always. Again I will say, rejoice!" What Paul is proverb here is that nosotros should rejoice at all times, whether we are sad, happy, angry, dislocated, or fifty-fifty tired: there shouldn't exist a moment that goes by that we aren't giving thanks to the Lord for His love and provision.

joyful mom and daughter singing praise songs with headphones on

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Lordn

What Does It Mean to "Rejoice in the Lord Always"?

Rejoice, according to Merriam Webster Lexicon, is "to give you" or "to feel joy or smashing delight," while to rejoice in means to "have or possess."

And so, the Scripture conveys that to rejoice in the Lord is to have joy or delight in the Lord; to feel joy when you think of Him e'er.

How do you exercise that, yous might enquire? Well, think of God as you would someone yous can see in front end of you, whether a family member, friend, co-worker, or someone from your church or community. When you spend time with someone that brings you joy and happiness, you rejoice or delight in beingness with him or her. You celebrate information technology.

Although yous can't see God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit, you come up to know that they are there with you, as close as anyone tin can be to you lot. You feel their presence when you experience at-home in the midst of chaos, happiness or positivity in the midst of sadness, and confidence in the midst of uncertainty. You are rejoicing in knowing that God is there with you lot, strengthening you when y'all are weak and encouraging you when you feel like giving up.

What if Yous Don't Experience Similar Rejoicing in the Lord?

Especially in our nowadays status of life, it can be hard to rejoice in the Lord when in that location is pain, struggle, and sadness all around us. Withal, it is possible to love on the Lord, to rejoice always, even when y'all don't feel like it or are grappling with too much pain to call back of God.

Philippians 4:4 is followed past the well-known verses shared in Philippians 4:half-dozen-7, where it talks well-nigh not being broken-hearted and giving your requests to the Lord with thanksgiving in your heart. Poetry seven follows this with: "and the peace of God, which surpasses all agreement, volition baby-sit your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

What these verses country is that when we rejoice in the Lord, nosotros begin to feel peace in our situations, peace in our hearts and minds, because nosotros sympathize that God has our prayer requests well in hand and brings us peace until those requests are answered.

Even when y'all have been waiting a long time for a prayer request to happen or a state of affairs to alter, y'all can rejoice and be thankful for the Lord in the meantime considering you know your prayer request has reached the ears of God and will be answered presently.

I way to rejoice when you don't experience similar information technology is to think back on the times that you were waiting on other prayer requests or were in like situations of distress, and how God provided when it didn't look like annihilation would modify. When you remember what occurred and how appreciative you lot were to God, this feeling should fill you with joy and tell yous that God can practice this again and again. He is a God who loves and cares for y'all.

So, Philippians 4:6-7 tells us not to be broken-hearted, as the world would have united states be, but hopeful, thankful, and at peace in knowing your prayer requests will be taken care of. The world may be anxious in its lack of control, only y'all don't take to exist because you know who is in control.


Photograph credit: Unsplash/Nghia-Le

A Prayer to Rejoice in the Lord

As we shut, let's follow what is expressed in Philippians four and rejoice in the Lord always, equally nosotros give Him our prayer requests and await His peace in return.

Lord God,

Thanks for loving us and caring for our needs as Yous do. For You know the plan ahead for u.s.a. and know how to guide our steps to be in line with that program. Information technology's not ever easy to rejoice and remain hopeful in You when problems and circumstances arise, but nosotros accept to think back on the times we have been in similar positions and call back how You blest us more than we thought possible. From large to little, we can count the blessings that You gave usa before and discover they are more numerous than nosotros ever thought possible. That is because You know our needs before we ask them, Yous know our heartaches before we take them, and You lot know what will abound united states the virtually to be all nosotros tin can exist in Your optics. So, let us rejoice and exist glad as we give You our prayers, knowing when we least expect it, You will bring them into fruition. We give all of this to You in Jesus'southward proper name.

Amen.

God Will Provide

Rejoicing in all situations, particularly present, tin can exist hard to do, if not incommunicable, at times. However, God has called us to rejoice in Him e'er, knowing that we are loved and cared for by an eternal God.

The campaigner Paul knew well the suffering that nosotros tin endure in our twenty-four hour period, having experienced several bouts of it throughout his ministry. Only he reminds us in this chapter that we need to ever be looking to God for hope and encouragement. God will provide for our needs when no one else can.

As nosotros bypass feelings of anticipation of rejoicing when we are going through difficult situations, hopefully nosotros will let those feelings be replaced by feelings of peace and confidence that the God who began a skilful work in usa will fulfill it in His children.

Photograph credit: ©Getty Images/torwai

Blair Parke  is a freelance author for BibleStudyTools.com, and previously worked for eight years with Xulon Press. A graduate of Stetson University with a Bachelor's in Communications, Blair previously worked every bit a author/editor for several local magazines in the Key Florida area, including Celebration Independent and Lake Magazine in Leesburg, Florida and currently freelances for the Southwest Orlando Bulletin.

This commodity is part of our larger resource library of popular Bible poesy phrases and quotes. We want to provide easy to read articles that respond your questions most the meaning, origin, and history of specific verses within Scripture's context. It is our hope that these will help you amend understand the pregnant and purpose of God's Discussion in relation to your life today.

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