REJOICE IN THE LORD

“Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.”- Philippians 4:4

I have stated that joy manifest in a cheerful heart. It doesn’t negate the realities of life, it only emboldens you. The first thing that keeps a person joyful is Rejoicing in the Lord.

Paul in his letter to the Philippians was encouraging them to rejoice in the Lord. What does it mean to rejoice in the Lord?. It means having a strong trust in the Lord that even when things don’t turn out the way you want, you won’t be unhappy. Rejoicing in the Lord means going through the storm yet having a view of a still water within. It is going through financial challenges yet saying let the poor say I am rich. It is fighting a diagnosis yet saying let the weak say I am strong. Joy in the Lord is accepting our current reality but trusting the heavenly reality. It is, being on medication yet smiling because you have God; Jehovah Rapha. Rejoicing in the Lord is finding strength from above to deal with your earthly realities. Rejoicing in the Lord is like the principle of vaccination; injecting an antigen into the body to provide immunity against that particular disease. The role of vaccination is to give the person immunity against future diseases. It also inoculates the person from contracting the disease he is being vaccinated against. Vaccination doesn’t prevent the disease from entering the body, it provides a hedge and protection. Rejoicing in the Lord means you being vaccinated to withstand the toughest situations in life.

Source: excerpt from my book THE POWER OF JOY (page 15)