When was about 7 years old, I remember sitting on a little wooden seat in Sunday School as we prepared to hear what the week’s Bible memory verse would be.
“Okay children! Here is today’s passage,” announced the vivacious teacher.
“Philippians 4:4 says, ‘Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!'”
Immediately, I was thankful for the many, many hours of Wee Kids Bible Songs in my parent’s old blue panel van. As the familiar tune for this verse rattled around in my head, I spouted off the exclamatory sentence lickety-split. The teacher happily gave me a golden star for my memory chart and this little line has been forever sealed in my mind. But therein lies the danger. I can recite this verse in the blink of an eye (and most of you can, too), but has it actually been pressed deeply into my heart? This past Tuesday, I came across an old, truth-saturated prayer that reminded me of that verse I had memorized nearly three decades earlier:
“Rejoice then in the Giver and His goodness,
Be happy in Him, O my heart, and in nothing but God,
for whatever a man trusts in, from that he expects happiness,
He who is the ground of thy faith
should be the substance of thy joy.”
(from “A Colloquy on Rejoicing” in The Valley of Vision)
Somehow in all my familiarity of Philippians 4:4 I had mentally skipped over the phrase, “in the Lord.” I wondered with fresh eyes, “What does it mean to rejoice in the Lord?”
To sing a note of thanks or say words of praise for what God provides?
To be happy because of what He has given me?
To be “more joyful” about being at church than I may be at a Red Wings hockey game?
To be grateful to God when circumstances arrange comfortably in my life?
But the words of the brief prayer above arrested my attention: “..whatever a man trusts in, from that he expects happiness.” In this truth is the foundation of true and lasting Christian joy. Herein is the full weight of what it means to rejoice in the Lord. We can rejoice fully in God when He is the focus of our faith. When God Himself is the epicenter of our trust, we experience a heart-level happiness that surpasses momentary pleasures. To rejoice in God is to be completely and solely satisfied in God. The joy found in God alone is not shaken when we lack material goods. Gladness in Christ doesn’t disappear after a sporting event, the rush of the holidays, or an end-of-year raise. Why? Because it is entirely grounded in God.
Let us search our souls…
In what or in whom have you been seeking happiness? Are you frustrated when your expectations of a vacation, job, or relationship are not met? Do you find Christian service projects or church attendance end in an emotional let-down?
Perhaps we’re looking to programs, people, projects, or material progress as the substance of our joy. Yes, all-too-often we find our fingers attempting to scrape happiness out of everything but God Himself. Let’s say today individually, and collectively this Sunday, “Remember, oh my soul, your abiding joy is in nothing but God. I am found in Him. I have meaning and fulfillment in Him. He is the fountain that will never run dry. Therefore, I will rejoice in Him.”
P.S.
If you’re looking for a church to call home and live in the greater Flint/Flushing/Grand Blanc/Swartz Creek area (or thereabouts), consider yourself warmly invited to be our guest at Mayfair Bible Church. We’re just a mile west of I-75 on Pierson Rd. directly across from Home Depot and Aldi.
