Get This Party Started

It takes time for God to break down the faulty worldview that we inherit from living in a short-sighted, sinful world and to replace it with his own heavenly perspective. If you're like me, you have probably heard a message or read Scripture that really spoke to you, and it made a big difference in your perspective and the way you took on life...for a day, or maybe two. But then a few days or weeks down the road you reflect on how short-lived that change in you was. It didn't take long at all for you to fall back into the old familiar rut.

The reason that happens is that we move on too quickly from the enlightening or inspiring thoughts that bring that temporary change for the better. Somehow we imagine that just hearing it once is all we need, so we're on to the next thing. If only that were the case! But in reality long-term core change rarely comes from simply gaining some new information. The thoughts that may change us for a day or two will quickly fade and be replaced by the ones that we have grown conditioned to thinking day in and day out for years. If we want the change to stick, we've got to spend significant time rehearsing those thoughts that can change us. We have to give them a chance to sink in and replace the old, self-defeating thoughts. Sometimes we just need to settle into a verse or paragraph of Scripture for an extended period of time and let it coach us into making real, long-term change.

All of that to say that I'm not quite ready to move on from the text I read yesterday. I'm going back to Philippians 4:4-9 again. I need to hear it again. This text more concisely describes the life I want than maybe any other single text in Scripture. Today I'm thinking especially about this:

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! (v. 4)

Rejoice in the Lord. Celebrate Jesus. Revel in him! It's a great thought and I'm sure I don't do it as much or as freely as I should. I wonder, how do you rejoice in the Lord when you feel that he has let you down? Everyone has those times when what we hoped for from God falls through. Some of those things are simply wishes of what would be nice. Others are the deep-down driving desires of our souls. It's the latter I speak of. When I feel immense disappointment in what God has or hasn't done, when I can't make any sense of it, when even his own mission and interests seem not important enough to him to act, it's a real challenge to think of God and feel an overflowing joy. Maybe I'm alone in that difficulty, but I suspect not.

I know for a fact that God is willing to accept our honest emotions, even our disappointment with him or our frustration. Every major figure whose story is told in Scripture had those times. Even Jesus on the cross felt abandoned by God and cried out from a broken heart. But I would much rather rejoice in the Lord. And the key word is "always." As Paul wrote these words he was imprisoned. He had gone to preach and lead people to Jesus and ended up in prison for it, facing possible execution. There had to be some confusion and disappointment that he had followed God's call to go and yet it hadn't gone well, or not as he'd hoped. Yet he still manages to flip that confusion around and rejoice in the Lord.

I think part of the answer lies in what he says just after that: "The Lord is near." That's his conviction. God may seem to be far off and disinterested but he's really not. He's near. He's close by, engaged, and he will keep his promises. He does love me and he's coming for me. I have to remember that it's not my place to make sense of everything that happens or what God's agenda is in each circumstance. I just have to remind myself that he's near and that he will show his love and glory to me in ways that will blow my mind. For now, I just must wait, greatly anticipate that, and rejoice in who he is and what he's already done for me. Rejoice in the Lord always!

Lord, I celebrate you! I will sing and I will dance and I will clap my hands because you are who you are and you love me! I know you will show all your goodness and faithfulness to me in time! That's a great feeling even when now I may be baffled by what you're up to. Amen!

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