May 3 - Philippians 3:1
“Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.”
Paul uses this word over and over again in Philippians: rejoice! Obviously this was something that the church in Philippi needed to hear … a lot.
In fact, it is probably something that we all need to hear … a lot!
Sometimes it astounds me that the Bible which was written between 4000 and 2000 years ago is still so applicable today. Eternal truths. Mankind does not change much, no matter how we might progress.
We get quite wrapped up in our stress, our problems our circumstances. We spend so much time trying to manage all of the stuff around us so that we can function; we don’t even understand what this word ‘rejoice’ means any longer.
Paul was a prisoner in Rome. His circumstances were nothing like what he would desire for his life, yet he understood what it meant to rejoice in the Lord.
Do you rejoice only when things are going well?
I am constantly reminded of the song “It Is Well With My Soul” when I think about this. In 1871, Horatio Spafford’s son died, followed by the Chicago Fire which ruined him financially. He sent his wife and daughters to Europe in 1873, planning to meet them there later. But, the ship sank and his four daughters were lost (his wife survived). Rather than fall into dark depression, he traveled to meet his wife and wrote those amazing words, “When peace like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll; whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, ‘It is well, It is well with my soul.’”
In the depths of greatest sorrows, in every day stresses, in the annoyance of circumstances, when we turn away from ourselves and to reliance on the Lord, we can learn what ‘rejoice’ really means.
“Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.”
Paul uses this word over and over again in Philippians: rejoice! Obviously this was something that the church in Philippi needed to hear … a lot.
In fact, it is probably something that we all need to hear … a lot!
Sometimes it astounds me that the Bible which was written between 4000 and 2000 years ago is still so applicable today. Eternal truths. Mankind does not change much, no matter how we might progress.
We get quite wrapped up in our stress, our problems our circumstances. We spend so much time trying to manage all of the stuff around us so that we can function; we don’t even understand what this word ‘rejoice’ means any longer.
Paul was a prisoner in Rome. His circumstances were nothing like what he would desire for his life, yet he understood what it meant to rejoice in the Lord.
Do you rejoice only when things are going well?
I am constantly reminded of the song “It Is Well With My Soul” when I think about this. In 1871, Horatio Spafford’s son died, followed by the Chicago Fire which ruined him financially. He sent his wife and daughters to Europe in 1873, planning to meet them there later. But, the ship sank and his four daughters were lost (his wife survived). Rather than fall into dark depression, he traveled to meet his wife and wrote those amazing words, “When peace like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll; whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, ‘It is well, It is well with my soul.’”
In the depths of greatest sorrows, in every day stresses, in the annoyance of circumstances, when we turn away from ourselves and to reliance on the Lord, we can learn what ‘rejoice’ really means.
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