Rejoice Always: The Easy Joys and the Hard Joys

Rejoice, that’s joy in action.  The scripture clearly tells us that we need to rejoice. 

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” Philippians 4:4 

Not only are we told to rejoice, but specifically to rejoice in the Lord, and always, and in case we didn’t get that, again we are told to rejoice. Sometimes the joy is easy, just natural, and sometimes the joy is hard, and we have to really dig deep to find that place to rejoice always, in all things.  There are so many scriptures where we are told to rejoice.  I will look at some now from the Old and New Testaments, and hopefully learn something about what the Lord would have us know about rejoicing.

“And you shall rejoice in all the good that the LORD your God has given to you and to your house…” Deuteronomy 26:11

Here is some easy joy, rejoicing in the good, but let us not forget to do even this, bringing the glory back to the giver of the good.  Let us not be quick to forget that He is the giver of all things good, and the praise is due to Him.

“Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!”  1 Chronicles 16:10

Glory, that’s another beautiful word we see in scripture, and used here as a verb.  Dictionary.com defines the verb form of glory as “to exult with triumph; rejoice proudly.”  Oh to glory in His holy name!  And who is doing this rejoicing?  The hearts of those who seek the LORD, that’s you and me, dear believer.

“But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.” Psalm 5:11

The Lord is our protection.  We run to Him for refuge, and there in His embrace, we rejoice, singing for joy.  We, those who love His name, exult in Him.  Back to Dictionary.com for a definition of exult, and we find, “to show or feel a lively or triumphant joy; rejoice exceedingly; be highly elated or jubilant.”  Just reading those words brings a smile to my face.  Oh our great God and Savior, our protector, is due this kind of praise!  I do believe it is circular too, this beautiful expression of joy in our Lord.  He loves us and creates joy in us, which we turn towards Him, and in turn we have more joy, more joy to turn to Him, then more joy in us, more to Him, more in us…and on and on and on.

“But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.” Psalm 13:5

Beautiful.  When we trust in His love, His steadfast, His unwavering, firm, trustable love, our hearts can rejoice in His salvation.  He’s our Savior.  That is always reason to rejoice.

I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction; you have known the distress of my soul.” Psalm 31:7

Again we see that it is in His steadfast love that we can rejoice, and He is not a far away God who doesn’t know us.  No, He is acquainted with our sorrows, and acquainted with us.  Yes, even though we have affliction and distress in our souls, we also know His love, His steadfast love, and it is there where we can still rejoice in those hard joys.

“But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the LORD!” Psalm 40:16

“Great is the LORD” not just when things are going great for us, but at all times.  Yes, He is great when I have a beautiful healthy baby born, and He is great when my baby passes away before the first breath.  Yes, He is great when we are doing well financially or when we are not sure how we are going to pay all the bills.  Yes, He is great when I am happy, and He is great when I am experiencing deep sorrow.  Easy joys and hard joys, they are both times for rejoicing because His greatness has absolutely nothing to do with my circumstances, and that is a good thing.  His greatness is based on who He is, Savior.  In that we can rejoice. 

“This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”  Psalm 118:24

What a beautiful verse for us to meditate on every day!  Not a day goes by apart from the Lord’s making, apart from His grace, reason for rejoicing.

“I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” Isaiah 61:10

My Savior has taken away my sin and replaced it with His righteousness.  He has taken out my heart of stone and replaced it with flesh.  He has made me beautiful.  No matter what else is going on in my life, I can rejoice in these truths.

“Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.” Jeremiah 31:13

I love this verse.  I find such comfort in serving a God who will turn my mourning into joy.  I have seen it time and time again in my life.  I do believe that sometimes we have to look for the joy.  It is there if we seek it.

“The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save;

he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” Zephaniah 3:17

Look closely at his verse.  Don’t miss who is doing the rejoicing and exulting here.  It is the Lord, rejoicing over His people!  Our Savior is made glad rejoicing over us, quieting us with His love, exulting over us with loud singing.  What joy is found here in this beautiful verse!   Oh how He loves us!

“Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!  Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.” Luke 6:22-23

That is hard joy there, rejoicing and leaping for joy when people persecute us for our faith, but Christ is reminding us that our reward is in heaven, not here on earth.  This world is temporary.  We can rejoice in the hope of our future with Christ in heaven.

“So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” John 16:22

Jesus was speaking of his death and resurrection.  His followers would experience sorrow as they lost the physical Jesus that walked with them, but He was resurrected and we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit to walk through this life with each day.  The joy this truth brings cannot be taken from us.

“Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” Romans 5:2

Yes.

“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance.” Romans 5:3

That’s hard joy again, but it’s not in vain.

“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.  More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” Romans 5:10-11

Reconciliation, that’s huge!  We were enemies to God.  Christ saved us, unworthy sinners.  Let that truth sink in, and rejoice in the Lord.

“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”

Romans 12:12

If nothing else, because of Christ, we have hope, and we can rejoice in that.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:3-9

Read that and then read it again.  We have a reason to rejoice! 

I pray that the Lord has spoken to you about how you can rejoice in Him always, the easy joys and the hard joys, always finding the One who is worthy of rejoicing.