Rejoice in the lord always?

"Rejoice in the LORD always, again I say, rejoice."     ~Phillipians 4:4


Although it is one of my favorites, this verse has always made me a bit uncomfortable.

Always rejoice? 

How, Lord?

How can I possibly rejoice when I've just loss someone so precious to me, whom I loved so dearly?

Because the Creator of the universe loves ME enough to send His Son to die to redeem me, 

I can rejoice

 even while suffering the emptiness of loss.

When I'm wounded and bleeding from the knife of a trusted friend, how can I rejoice?

Because the Son of Man, my Saviour, loves me enough to say YES to the betrayal of His friends, to the abuse and cruelty of evil men; YES to death on the cross

I can rejoice

 despite the bloody wounds of my own.

When my world has been turned upside-down by financial loss, illness, accident, neglect or abandonment . . . rejoice?

Yes.

Because a price so exorbitant, which I could never pay, was paid for me. Because a debt I owe has been wiped away; because a vigilant Shepherd watches over me day and night

I can rejoice

even while my life here below rocks and churns and crashes and burns

I can rejoice.

Always.

one thousand gifts

I am reading a truly life-changing book and I want to recommend it to you. 

The author states some pretty obvious facts about God and faith, but she is able to dig so deeply into them that it is like seeing them for the first time. We've all heard about keeping a gratefulness journal, and many of us have kept them. This is the story of where one woman's journaling took her, and how it changed her whole perspective on  life.


                                                      

one thousand gifts by Ann Voskamp

If you only read one book in the new year (I can't imagine it!) consider this one.