Rejoice!

"Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice!" So said the pastor of the Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Church in Mt. Pleasant, SC, yesterday as he read the scripture and talked with his congregants about tapping into God's strength. "Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice!" So said the pastor of First Baptist Church in Indian Trail, NC when I flipped through the channels last evening.

Rejoice in the Lord always . . . when there are 12 warring conflicts going on in our world? Rejoice in the Lord always . . . when Osama bin Laden and his groupies are on the loose? Rejoice in the Lord always . . . when we discover that a loved one's life has been lost? Rejoice in the Lord always . . . when a significant relationship has broken or wounded us at our core? Rejoice in the Lord always . . . when our business is not making money and we are afraid of being dependent on our children or our parents? Rejoice in the Lord always . . . when we've been diagnosed with a physical disability or potentially fatal disease? Rejoice in the Lord always . . . when our hopes show no indication of manifestation? Rejoice in the Lord always . . . seriously?!

Seriously! So suggests the Apostle Paul who found himself in jail experiencing all manner of suffering. It was he who wrote those words "Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice!"
What Paul understood that is so hard for we humans to grasp in the face of our trials is that just shifting our focus to what is good changes us. But to shift that focus we have to have a belief that God is able and not just able but more than able to deal with whatever war, relationship, disease, financial challenge, etc. may come our way. We have to believe when everything around us looks impossible that God is the one who makes the possible palpable! God can do it! We can trust God! God is a God of Hope and a God of Peace! If we know that and claim that, then we have only to celebrate that!

I don't know what struggles are yours in this advent season. I do know my own way too well and I realize that if I will rejoice in all things, then somehow not only will I be transformed but I'll be able to move beyond my struggles to that place that will transform others and together we will find that the joy of the Lord is our strength!

May we indeed, "Rejoice in the Lord always and again . . . rejoice!" Amen.