⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!

Joy is the theme of this book, as many have pointed out. Rejoicing is a word used to describe the act of expressing joy. This should characterize all Christians, so Paul repeats himself on this. We can never be reminded enough.Why is it so difficult to rejoice when we have so much to be joyful about? We have been redeemed and assured of salvation (Phil 1:6). For us, the Creator God of the universe humbled Himself and despite the present circumstances of evil in the world He has been exalted and one day will be seen as exalted (Phil 2:5-11). Yet, daily difficulties so easily overwhelm us and rob the joy from our experiences. We fret, we worry, we dwell on slights and innuendoes. We become angry, frustrated, fearful, vengeful and unforgiving. None of these brings joy, so they rob us of life.If only, we think, the things that cause these behaviors or feelings could be eliminated, then and only then we could experience joy. However, true joy is not contingent upon our outward circumstances, but on our commitment to being joyful. Otherwise, joy could not be commanded.

We can look for no better example than that of our Lord on the night in which He was betrayed. In the upper room, just ahead of the greatest tragedy this world has ever known, when darkness attempted to extinguish the Light, the world which He made and in which He came to dwell rejected Him. It was during this time that Jesus made these remarkable statements:

“These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full” (John 15:11)

“Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full” (John 16:24).

“But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves” (John 17:13).

So we see that our Lord experienced joy in the midst of the worst circumstances and during that time taught His disciples about that joy. Further, the writer of Hebrews tells us to, “[fix] our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2).

Joy rises above our circumstances, for it ascends to the source of all joy: “Splendor and majesty are before Him, strength and joy are in His place” (1 Chron 16:27). Therefore, let us rejoice as an act of our will.