Lesson 4 - REJOICE!

We were raised from a lowly beginning: Working hard, contentment, love, rejoicing and the scriptures were taught and became our foundation. I am going to blog about rejoicing for now, since we (I) tend to forget and still learning how to rejoice in everything!

Oh sure we can do a great job rejoicing at a party, at Thanksgiving Day, Holidays, celebrations and success. How about, to rejoice always!? Rejoicing always is not something that comes easily to us. Our era tends to focus on problems, scarcity and wars. We tend to be a society that is greatly dissatisfied. Our consumer culture, according to Rev. J. Cooke, functions in creating “demands” and selling us products.

Our culture tells us that we need a faster computer, better camera, better cell phone and our wardrobes need to be updated. We are told that we deserve faster cars, bigger house, that our furniture is out of style and we need a luxurious vacation.

As the Dow continues to fall, it is not only our savings accounts and investments that decrease, but our way of life and our attitude towards the recent economic crisis.

I’m not denying that life has never been easy but I was challenged when Apostle Paul charged the early Christians in Philippi to “Rejoice always”. They knew up close and personal how to be persecuted, imprisoned, ridiculed and how difficult life could get. And yet, in all seriousness, they were encouraged to rejoice always.

We may not have everything that we want, we may have unfulfilled dreams, failures, hard pressed lives and we may not feel tickled fancy but we can still rejoice. An author said; “rejoicing is not an emotional state. It is a foundational way of existing, a premise on which our living rest”.

Our lives are functioning throughout, the planets orbit; the seasons come and go solely by His grace. We cannot control most of life- not the economy, not who comes across our path, not sickness- but we can choose how we will respond to the events of our lives. What we choose to think, how we choose to behave determines whether we will live dissatisfied or will live celebrating our faith.

For all the many ways God has been good to us, we can rejoice always. In all times of life- whether good or bad or in between – May we rejoice in Him, who blesses us in countless ways.