Rejoice Always?

Paul tells us to “rejoice always” (1 Thess. 5:16). On the face of it, that sounds too hard to be realistic. When I’ve been putting in long hours at work, and when I get home I have fifty papers to grade, a lecture to prepare, and oh by the way I have to do laundry or I won’t have any clean clothes tomorrow… am I really supposed to rejoice?

Some aspects of the Christian faith are things I could understand intellectually, and grasped (more or less) right away. Others, though, have to be lived to be understood. (And that by itself is something that I didn’t understand for quite a while.) One of those “lived concepts” is this thing about rejoicing always.

It’s easy to understand being happy because of something good that has happened. A raise or a promotion; good news about a friend; an enjoyable vacation. Small things can make for a good day, too. For me, half an hour with the newspaper and a good cup of coffee in the morning sets the whole morning off on a positive note. (Mind you, I am careful to end with the comics section, rather than the national news.)

But when Paul says “rejoice always,” he isn’t adding “because, as Christians, nothing bad will ever happen.” He of all people knew that being a servant of the Lord didn’t mean everything was going to be peachy 24/7.

My first step toward understanding that was to appreciate the role that gratitude plays in happiness. On any given day, I have plenty of things to be grateful for, ranging from feeling physically good to having food on the table to observing the beautiful sky as the sun sets over the Pacific Ocean. Even failing all those things, I can (and should) be grateful for the astonishing gift that I have in my relationship with Christ. I may not be able to “feel” grateful but I can “be” grateful by consciously recognizing all the things I can give thanks for. So part of “rejoice always!” is a conscious act. Paul doesn’t say “Feel happy always!” but “rejoice” – a command not about how we should feel, but about what we should do.

Understood that way, it is genuinely possible for me to rejoice always – even when I don’t feel emotionally happy.

I’ve experienced something interesting over the past couple of months, though. I have been extremely busy, putting in quite a few 10- and 12-hour days, and working over the weekends. As one might imagine, I’ve been a bit tired. Then there have been a series of stressful events and small frustrations that, under ordinary circumstances, would be enough to take the edge off of any cheerful mood that might have dared to develop. In other words, the last few weeks have been such that I would have expected to be struggling with a lousy mood.

That’s not what’s happened, though.

I have been happy. And it’s not a happiness that is connected to any particular thing to be happy about. It is deeper than that. It just “is.” It’s not a happiness that precludes concern: right now I am praying every day for two good friends who are injured and need physical healing, for one example.  But somehow, in some way that I don’t understand, lately I have been able to rejoice in a variety of different circumstances. To have a major unexpected car expense and not fret about it. To look at a tall stack of essays to grade and not feel daunted. To be hurting after fencing practice and not brood about it. To be able to let go of having to do everything perfectly. 

In Philippians, Paul remarks that “I have learned in whatever situation to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (4:11-13). He isn’t trying to convince himself. He is able to be truly content even in the midst of the most horrible circumstances because he is anchored in something better, something deeper. In Christ.

To be sure, the stress of a big car repair bill or an important deadline at work are nothing compared to Paul’s regular experiences of being beaten, stoned, jailed, and the like… but the peace I feel, in the face of things that normally make me anxious, is real.

All I can say is, it’s a gift – nothing I’ve done deserves it. I can only say that now I understand better what Paul means when he says “Give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thess 5:18). Because this gift of happiness is a gift, not dependent on my own circumstances but drawing solely and completely on God’s grace – so I give thanks to Him.

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