Rejoice and Rejoice
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Philippians 4:4-5
4. Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5. Let all men know your forbearance. The Lord is at hand.
I looked up forbearance and found: calmness in the face of suffering and adversity; good-natured tolerance of delay or incompetence. There were also some references to forbearance of debts – in order for a debtor to get caught up on late payments, the lender might forbear additional interest charges. (I think I’m using that correctly!) Christ was our one, final, ultimate forbearance from God.
The Lord is at hand. How can one not rejoice at the mere thought of Jesus and what he did for us and what God continues to do in and through us via the Holy Spirit! Really. Just think about this for a minute. I feel my spirits rise just typing these words. Jesus! JESUS! Wow! God loves us so much he sent Jesus to us. If you really stop to absorb all this, it can make you choke up. That kind of love is inconceivable. And certainly unexplainable – considering the current state of the world. God sent us Jesus.
Joy is different from happiness. Keep that in mind. We can be joyful even when we’re not happy. And, again, that’s because of Jesus and the promise He represents; the gift He became for us. Joy is linked to forbearance. We can be joyful even in grief, pain; through stress and disaster; no matter the circumstance, because we are going to heaven! Life is so hard. And perpetually disappointing. Joy in the Lord is the only thing that gets me out of bed and out of the house sometimes.
But joy in the Lord is what it’s all about. Rejoice in the Lord always! And you won’t have time for a pity-party; you won’t feel compelled to comment on how awful your boss is; you won’t need to detail the disastrous state of the Middle East; and Africa; and the US/Mexico border. You won’t even dwell on how hot it is. Rejoice in the Lord! That’s what I’m going to focus on today. I’m going to try very had to let everyone know my forbearance. Because the Lord is at hand!
My prayer today is that you rejoice in the Lord. And that your forbearance is obvious to everyone you encounter today.
Mary
