Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
This verse is really powerful. It's a beautiful reminder for us to rejoice in the Lord. Just on the surface, it's encouraging to read these words. It brings a smile to my face naturally, because I think of what it's reminding me—the truth of knowing that there is an opportunity to be connected to God and to find joy in Him.
Written from Prison
When you look at the whole of the book that this verse is found in, you realize that the writer Paul is not just saying this flippantly along the path, walking along in a season of flourishing and beauty. No, he's writing this from a place of imprisonment. Circumstantially, Paul is actually in a really bad place. I mean, everything that's true about his surrounding circumstances would naturally lend a human person to say, this is not a time when you should be full of rejoicing.
Yet, isn't it interesting that not only does Paul instruct the reader of this letter to rejoice, he says, "Rejoice in the Lord all the time." Never be found not rejoicing. What that means then, is the guy who's writing from prison is saying, yes, you should be expecting even me in these circumstances to be full of rejoicing.
Why would somebody in that situation impose that kind of scrutiny upon himself from people who are free to do what they want while he is in chains? He's saying that to them, one, to remind himself of what is true. You know, what I love is very often, especially in the Psalms, you see writers in Scripture making these proclamations that they themselves need to remember what is true about what they are stating.
Reminding Ourselves of Truth
I think about how the psalmist David says, often I tell my soul to believe certain things, like, oh, soul why are you downcast? He's speaking to his own inner being to remember what is true about God. I think Paul here is doing this for himself. He's saying, "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, rejoice!" As he's penning these words, he's reminding himself for this to be true in his own situation.
Secondly, what I love about this is he doubles down on the reminder. "Again, I say rejoice." He goes on to say in the verse right after this, "Let your reasonableness be known among you." In other words, it just makes logical sense that your rejoicing should be true about your life.
Rejoicing in the Lord, Not Circumstances
Now, why would that be the case, especially from a guy who's in prison? Well, what he's saying is that the rejoicing doesn't come from what's around you, or what's happening to you, or what you see with your eyes. Your rejoicing is in the Lord, who is in you all the time. What I experience in the world, and the rejoicing of knowing God, don't always look like happiness and beauty and goodness all the time. Sometimes my surrounding circumstances can be awful, but I rejoice in the Lord nonetheless.
What a reminder today for all of us to rejoice in the Lord. Maybe at the first pass of that reminder, you're kind of going, yeah, I know, but you don't know what I'm going through. Or you don't know what I've been praying for. You don't know what's happening. I love that, for all of us, he says it once and he says again, maybe you didn't hear me clear. Rejoice always in the Lord.
