"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" - Philippians iv:4

When y'all recollect of the word "rejoice," what do y'all typically remember of? You might remember of rejoicing as beingness in a state of abiding happiness and jubilant every detail of your life with unending exuberance.

What about when you see the Scripture that says "rejoice in the Lord always"? Does that have the same sentiment as the mentioned state of happiness above?

Philippians 4:four has the campaigner Paul telling the church of Philippi, in a letter of the alphabet, to ever rejoice in the Lord, always celebrate the Lord. This carries the understanding that yous practise it whether y'all want to or not, whether you are happy with the Lord or not. When yous celebrate with the right thought in mind about how God works, it will exist possible to find ways to rejoice in the Lord.

Let us examine the post-obit passages in Philippians iv to see why this advice from Paul is and then profound and how we can concur to this belief of God'due south greatness at all times, finding the joy inside building upward every bit nosotros requite Him thanks.

What Is the Context of Philippians iv?

The volume of Philippians is the campaigner Paul'southward alphabetic character 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.

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

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

The fourth chapter of Philippians also encourages people to not be anxious for annihilation, but to give their needs in prayer to God (Phil. iv:6) and gain God's peace in return (Phil. 4:7).

Paul too shared in Philippians iv:xi-12 how he has learned to be content where he is because he knows what it is like to be hungry and full, to suffer and to abound.

Even so, with Philippians four:4, Paul merely declares that we "rejoice in the Lord, always. Over again I will say, rejoice!" What Paul is saying hither is that we should rejoice at all times, whether we are sad, happy, angry, dislocated, or even tired: at that place 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 experience joy or dandy please," while to rejoice in ways 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 lot think of Him ever.

How do you do that, y'all might ask? Well, remember of God as you would someone you tin can see in front of you, whether a family unit fellow 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 being with him or her. You celebrate it.

Although you can't see God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit, y'all come up to know that they are at that place with you lot, as close as anyone tin can be to you lot. Yous feel their presence when you feel calm 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 yous, strengthening y'all when yous are weak and encouraging you when yous feel like giving up.

What if You Don't Feel Similar Rejoicing in the Lord?

Especially in our present status of life, it can be hard to rejoice in the Lord when in that location is pain, struggle, and sadness all effectually the states. Even so, it is possible to love on the Lord, to rejoice always, even when you don't feel like it or are grappling with likewise much pain to call up of God.

Philippians 4:iv is followed by the well-known verses shared in Philippians 4:6-7, where it talks about not being broken-hearted and giving your requests to the Lord with thanksgiving in your centre. Verse 7 follows this with: "and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, volition baby-sit your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

What these verses state is that when we rejoice in the Lord, we begin to experience peace in our situations, peace in our hearts and minds, considering nosotros understand that God has our prayer requests well in mitt and brings us peace until those requests are answered.

Even when you have been waiting a long time for a prayer request to happen or a situation to change, you tin can rejoice and be thankful for the Lord in the concurrently considering you know your prayer request has reached the ears of God and volition be answered soon.

Ane fashion to rejoice when you don't feel similar it is to retrieve 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 anything would change. When you remember what occurred and how appreciative you were to God, this feeling should fill you with joy and tell you lot that God tin do this once more and again. He is a God who loves and cares for you.

So, Philippians 4:half dozen-vii tells u.s.a. not to be broken-hearted, every bit the world would take usa exist, merely hopeful, thankful, and at peace in knowing your prayer requests will exist taken care of. The globe may exist anxious in its lack of command, but y'all don't accept to be because you lot know who is in command.


Photo credit: Unsplash/Nghia-Le

A Prayer to Rejoice in the Lord

Equally we shut, let's follow what is expressed in Philippians 4 and rejoice in the Lord always, every bit we give Him our prayer requests and expect His peace in return.

Lord God,

Give thanks you for loving us and caring for our needs as You do. For You lot know the plan ahead for us and know how to guide our steps to be in line with that programme. It's not e'er easy to rejoice and remain hopeful in You when problems and circumstances arise, but we have to think back on the times we have been in similar positions and recollect how You blessed usa more than nosotros thought possible. From large to little, we tin can count the blessings that You lot gave united states of america before and find they are more numerous than we ever idea possible. That is because You know our needs earlier we enquire them, You know our heartaches before we have them, and Y'all know what will grow united states of america the most to be all we can be in Your optics. So, let u.s. rejoice and exist glad every bit nosotros give You lot our prayers, knowing when we least expect it, You will bring them into fruition. We give all of this to You in Jesus'south name.

Amen.

God Will Provide

Rejoicing in all situations, especially nowadays, tin can be hard to practise, if not impossible, at times. However, God has chosen us to rejoice in Him e'er, knowing that we are loved and cared for by an eternal God.

The apostle Paul knew well the suffering that we can suffer in our twenty-four hour period, having experienced several bouts of information technology throughout his ministry. But he reminds us in this chapter that we need to always be looking to God for promise and encouragement. God will provide for our needs when no one else can.

Equally nosotros featherbed feelings of apprehension of rejoicing when we are going through difficult situations, hopefully nosotros will let those feelings exist replaced past feelings of peace and confidence that the God who began a good work in us will fulfill it in His children.

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/torwai

Blair Parke  is a freelance writer for BibleStudyTools.com, and previously worked for 8 years with Xulon Printing. A graduate of Stetson University with a Bachelor's in Communications, Blair previously worked equally a writer/editor for several local magazines in the Central Florida area, including Commemoration Independent and Lake Mag in Leesburg, Florida and currently freelances for the Southwest Orlando Bulletin.

This article is part of our larger resource library of popular Bible verse phrases and quotes. We desire to provide easy to read articles that answer your questions almost the meaning, origin, and history of specific verses within Scripture's context. It is our hope that these will help you ameliorate understand the meaning and purpose of God's Discussion in relation to your life today.

  • Practice Unto Others
  • The Truth Will Ready You lot Gratis
  • Guard Your Heart
  • Love I Another
  • Blest Are the Meek

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