Rejoice

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4, NIV)

I love the book of Philippians! It was written while the Apostle Paul was imprisoned, but it is so full of joy. The book also contains a lot of practical wisdom about living a joyful life when life seems to zap the joy right out of you.

One of the ways the Bible uses the word, rejoice, is an animating gladness. When the Bible refers to gladness, it is a state of being in the mind, knowing that God is with you and for you, even when life doesn’t cooperate. That state of mind is important, because gladness becomes the filter through which you experience everything; regardless if you deem it good or bad. Challenging? You bet. Worth it, in the long run, yes. There are things you will discover that provide buoyancy to a heart that otherwise would be sunk when you dig down deeply enough. Those are the very places where you find God is with your even in the worst things you could imagine.

I have an app on my phone called, Animate Me. I made the little ditty below as a way to illustrate animation. This does not refer to anything cartoonish (though I recognize the video defies that statement), but seeing life in a different dimension than the world alone reveals. I took a selfie, decorated myself, and added music from “We Are the Champions” because of how glad that song made me feel after the Braves won the World Series. It is silly, but a simple way to illustrate the difference in something that is animated versus something that is not.

What kind of gladness animates you? What can you see and sense that makes an otherwise dull existence come to life? Is there a way you can find God there? Gladness can help you experience life in the doldrums of living. So “rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”