| Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Philippians 4:4,5 |
Fellow Believers,Watching a travelogue one day, I noticed the people in that third-world country all looked very sad and drawn. What a hard life they must have, I thought, having to live in deep poverty and harsh environments.
With that in mind, I made a special point to observe the people in this land of plenty. Surprisingly, the faces of even those walking on New York's plush Fifth Avenue were mostly somber. There was little evidence of joy in their life.
Actually, the Bible does say that "man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble" (Job 14:1). That, of course, is because mankind is under the curse of God.
Nevertheless, we believers have been liberated from that curse; we need not wallow in despair and heartaches. In fact, God commands us to rejoiceor, to be more specific, to rejoice in the Lord always (Phil. 4:4). And in that command, He gives us the key to always finding joy in this hostile world: abiding in the Lord.
You see, troubles bring us closer to God. That's why He says in Ecclesiastes 7:3, "Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better." Only when we recognize our sadness and helplessness without Christ are we willing to submit to Him.
Once we have surrendered our life to Christ, we can take comfort in knowing that our heavenly Father, who is absolutely sovereign and omnipotent, does work all things for our good. "All things", of course, include all the deep waters that He wants us to go through. Knowing that trials are a part of God's perfect plan for our life, we begin to focus on the glory beyond the immediate valley.
And in these end-time days, looking beyond the valley is that much easier, because "the Lord is at hand" (v. 5b). Developments both inside and outside of the church all point to the early return of Christ. What a glorious day that will be!
The more we see this hope approaching, the less serious our present problems will become. Meanwhile, we can bring glory to God by letting our "moderation (patient gentleness) be known unto all men" (v. 5a). As we do so, we'll discover the truth in Proverbs 15:13: "A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance." We'll be able to walk around with a smile on our face.
Third Quarter, 1992