Called To Rejoice Part One

 Philippians 4:4

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

We live in a world that seems to be full of sadness and depression.  When we look at the news, social media, and even just in conversations and meetings with each other, it seems that we live in a dark world of doom and gloom.  Local physicians offices are full of folks who are not necessarily there for a physical ailment but are there for a mental ailment and to receive medication to help them deal with it.  Life is tough.  Life can be overbearing.  I know this all too well in my own personal walk and I want to make sure that you as the reader understand that.

The theme of this devotion is the call in Scriptures for us as Christians to rejoice.  To be happy.  To be content.  When you hear some sermons on this topic, it can make those who are dealing with depression, even more distraught.  The reason why is because most pastors make it sound “overly” easy.  It’s more of a “just do it” type message.  The bulk of the messages give a relay like, “The Scripture says to have all joy in Jesus so turn that frown upside down and put on a happy face!”  

While Scripture does have a strong sense of urgency to live a life of joy, our God is an understanding God and He is not naive to the temptations that we will come across.  He gave us examples in Scriptures of folks who experienced tough times and gave us those examples of what to do when trials come our way.

This devotional will again be a series because I want to talk about the different examples that God has given us to show how we can overcome depression in our lives.  I’m going to share from my personal journey which was so deep that it included being diagnosed with stage 4 suicidal ideation.  God has delivered me from that and I rejoice today  because of the clarity of mind and joy He has brought to my heart.  I think it’s time as Christians that we address this issue and be real with this issue.  When I experienced those thoughts, I was already saved.  This isn’t a problem that only the lost deal with.  This is very much a real issue in the church and we as the church need to stop ignoring it.

We will look at three different lives.  We will look at the lives of Moses, the life of Elijah, and the life of Jesus Christ.  We will talk about the trials that each three of these came across and the thoughts of despair that fell upon all three.  More importantly, we will show how all three overcame and how that relates to us today.

However, before we look at those three, what attitude does Scripture say we should have?  Well, look at today’s main verse, Philippians 4:4.  Rejoice in the Lord, always….

No matter what comes our way, we need to rejoice in the Lord and be joyful because we need to understand that no matter the circumstance, God is with us.  God is our Father and loves us and will not give us horrible things.  Tough times do come our way but they form the Christian when we look at them.  Those events in our life are forming us more into the image of His Son.  How does a potter make a beautiful piece of china and pottery?  The potter pounds it, wets it, shapes the clay, stretches it, puts it under pressure, and even ultimately throws it in the fire!  How does it come out though?  It comes out as a firm and beautiful piece.   How does a blacksmith prepare a sword?  Have you ever watched the show, “Forged in Fire”?   It’s one of my favorite’s because I’m a knife collector.  Have you seen how swords and knives are made?  Metal and steel are heated up to such intense heat that the metal turns white hot.  Then while the metal is hot, it’s placed on a hard anvil and then hitten hard many times over by a hammer.  The pressure of the hammer forms the soft steel into the shape it should take.  God allows the same thing to happen to us.  Pressure events happen in our life not to get us down but to make us stronger.  God will not turn away from you and for that reason alone we should be reminded to rejoice.

Romans 5:10-11

10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

We have reason to rejoice even in times of depression just for the sole fact that we are saved!  Christ gave His life on the cross to save us from our sins.  To reconcile us to God.  For that reason we can rejoice because no matter what pain, trial, or hardship can come into our life, absolutely nothing can take that away from us!  Heaven is awaiting us!  A new body with no pains, no cancer, no death.  A home that God has been preparing for us.  Just imagine that home.  God created this whole universe in six days.  Jesus told us in John 14 that He went to prepare a place for us.  If God made this amazing universe in 6 days just imagine what He has prepared when He’s been working for 2000 years!  We can rejoice Christian.  We have to remind ourselves to do that.  When we feel down and can’t remember that, we need to go to the Lord in prayer.  Don’t talk though.  Seriously.  The major problem in most prayer lives today is that we spend all the time talking and not enough listening.  Just go to Him in prayer, ask Him to speak to you, and the  just sit back and listen.  He will speak to you.  

Pray to Him today.  Ask Him to reveal to you what you need to know about having joy in Him.  Read His Word.  God will speak to you through His Word.  Read about the life of Moses, Elijah, and Jesus.  Ask God to reveal to you as we begin this study, how He wants you to react to the depression that you are having in your life.