Rejoice Always // 1 Thessalonians 5:16

We are going to take the next couple days and look at 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18: “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Today we are going to consider what it means to rejoice always.

The meaning of the word, rejoice, is to show great joy and delight. Let’s face it, it’s easy to rejoice when things are going well. I don’t know about you, but I can feel dern near invincible when I am on a winning streak in life. It seems like my mood is great, my decision-making abilities are even better, and with all due respect to Barry Manilow, I am convinced I’ve finally made it through the rain. The only problem is when the inevitable slump comes, I can feel like I’ll never win again. Those highs and lows of life can be debilitating if we can never see beyond ourselves. This is precisely why the Apostle Paul wrote that we are to rejoice always.

It’s pretty common for us to feel like God is blessing us when things are going well and cursing us when they are not. This is not biblical! The promise of Scripture is God telling us He is with us in the good days, bad days, and every day in-between. That, my friends, is why we are to rejoice always, because whatever it is we have to face, we never face it alone. Nope, we have the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of the world right there with us. Talk about a reason to rejoice!