Rejoice in the Lord

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” (Philippians 4:4-6)

Happy Thanksgiving! This holiday gives us an intentional opportunity to consider the idea of thanksgiving and gratitude, and this passage offers a little bit of Paul’s insight into this.

Paul is not naive. He does not tell his readers that there’s nothing to be worried about, no pain, suffering or hardship, and therefore they can give thanks. Instead, he encourages them that the Lord is at hand and because of this, they need not be anxious but can take even the anxiety-inducing things to God in prayer. 

The rejoicing that Paul refers to is not a circumstantial happiness but contentment in the Lord based on trust that he is good, loving and sovereign. The Lord is at hand with each and every one of us, and because of this, we need not be anxious. This joy found in the Lord is able to replace all our unreasonableness and fear. Because we are confident that he is with us at all times we can give thanks even during our hardships and anxieties. 

This is the beauty of our God! He is worthy of our praise when we are on the mountains and when we are in the valleys! Not only on one day a year when we take a closer look at our blessings, not only when our relationships are healthy and our work is fulfilling, not only when everything is going just right, but also in our suffering, our fear, and our sickness. Let us carry this day of thanksgiving into the next week, month, and year, giving thanks and earnestly praying that God will help us in these things and give us hearts of gratitude even when it doesn’t come easy to us.