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The Joy of the Lord (Philippians 4:4-7)
How would you define joy? Where is the source of
your joy? At the time of Ezra and Nehemiah the returned exiles had endured
a great deal. They had encountered many harsh difficulties and seemingly
unrelenting opposition. After all the work of building and establishing
again a community of God's people the Law of the Lord was read to the
gathered people. The people wept as they listened to this recital but
Nehemiah said to them:
"This day is sacred to the LORD your God. Do not
mourn or weep...Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drink, and send some
to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do
not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:9-10)
We can so easily equate joy with happiness, derive happiness from our
circumstances, and find ourselves frustrated because circumstances change,
happiness is transient and joy seemingly fleeting. When you consider the
circumstances of the Philippian Church you might forgive them for being
troubled because of their circumstances.
· Many of them
had been Christians for a long time, perhaps many years, and the first
flush of conversion was behind them
· Their friend
and mentor Paul was in prison
· There were
internal divisions in the church (4:2) and sides were being taken
· They were
feeling the challenges of being disciples in a hostile world (2:15-16)
Writing from prison Paul challenges them to get their priorities right,
to get the right perspective. Just as Nehemiah reminded the children of
Israel that despite their outward circumstances and the challenges they
had faced, they were blessed as the people of God to have been chosen
and brought out of bondage into freedom. Just as he urged them, "Do
not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength"
so Paul urged the Philippians:
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say
it again: Rejoice!"
There is a tendency among Christians today to find our joy in material
circumstances, the size of our meetings, the success of our events, and
the evidence of gifts. Jesus told his disciples:
"Do not rejoice that the spirits submit
to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven" (Lk.10:20)
Our fortunes change with our circumstances but the one constant we have
is this that our names are written in heaven. Paul reminds us of what
that means:
"Do not be anxious about anything, but
in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your
requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ"
In Christ we have the promise of a joy this world cannot know and that
lasts; gentleness, a word variously described in different translations
as "patience, softness, modesty, a patient
mind, forbearance, graciousness"; prayerfulness
that gives us privileged access to the throne of God's grace and a peace
that cannot be explained in human terms because it is the peace of heaven.
Perhaps this week we can resolve to find our joy in these things that
are constants in our lives and remember that, despite our circumstances,
we have much for which to be grateful and a God who is even now ready
to hear our prayers and petitions and grant us peace and joy as we wait
for our Saviour's sure return - "The Lord is near"