Rejoice Always!

“Rejoice always!” (1 Thessalonians 5:16).

Interesting.

When a person tries out a new food item and if they respond with, “Interesting,” what do you think that means?

If you were to ask me how my Christmas and New Year’s break was, my answer?

Interesting.

I found out a day before Christmas that Kaleb tested positive for Covid. Because of my heart issues, my family insisted that I stay away from Kaleb. So, I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day by myself in a hotel room.

Interesting.

The plan was for me to get back with the family after three days and after a negative Covid test for the rest of the family. That was the plan. Things didn’t go to plan.

Interesting.

After testing, Helen and Kaitlin also tested positive for covid.

Interesting.

Notice, I didn’t say, “Terrible!”

Helen and Kaitlin had very mild symptoms. They only had flu-like symptoms. Kaleb, on the other hand, had almost no symptoms.

Thank God our family is healthy and managing. Isolating and quarantining was never on any of our plans, but through it all, we’re all healthy and doing well.

Thanks to Alan and Jane Macpherson for offering their cabin so Karis, Kailey, and I can have a place to stay. So much better than a hotel room. The non-covid Kims have been staying at the cabin while the covid Kims continue to isolate and quarantine.

The text for today doesn’t say, “Rejoice when things are going your way.” Nor does it say, “Rejoice when things are going great!” It simply states, “Rejoice ALWAYS.”

Rejoice is written in the imperative. It’s a command.

Here’s what that means: rejoicing is a choice. It’s something we choose. It is not an emotion we passively feel, but it is a condition we choose.

You should also note that rejoicing does not mean feeling happy or giddy. This has to do with a sense or state of being.

What I can tell you about my Christmas and New Year’s break was that there was a whole lot of down time and alone time. There wasn’t much giddiness. There wasn’t much glee. But I had joy. I knew, no matter what, God was in control, God loved me and my family, and that God knew best. So, no matter what the future held, I was in good hands, because I was in God’s hands. There was nothing in this created world that could separate me from the love of God.

So, even though things weren’t always great, I had joy. Joy is the result of who God is, not my experiences nor external circumstances. Joy depends on all that God has already done for us.

So, no matter what you are facing, no matter what you are going through, remember, you can and you must choose joy.

Rejoice! Rejoice always!