Rejoicing -The Best Medicine

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

-Philippians 4:4 (ESV)

    The strange thing about this verse is that Paul urges the Philippian Christians to rejoice always, meaning, even if they don't feel like it, still they must rejoice in the Lord. And Paul repeats himself, emphasizing the point so that the readers will not easily forget this command.

    Martyn Lloyd-Jones points out that there is a world of a difference between rejoicing and being happy. Happiness is a feeling within yourself. You cannot make yourself happy, but you can make yourself rejoice, in the sense that you will always rejoice in the Lord. 

    King David preaches to himself,

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation.

-Psalm 42:5 (ESV)

    David wasn't feeling happy inside at all. So he exhorts his troubled soul to hope in God. Why? So he can praise and give glory to God. David did not look for an escape, he did not turn to alcohol, nor did he take pills for his depression. Instead, he believed that the God of his salvation is sufficient and will save him from his despair. He puts his hope in Him. He trusted God to rescue him.

    When you come to love, treasure, and delight in God, you will experience that God is more than enough to carry you through the dark days of your life. Like Paul, you may be afflicted but not crushed, perplexed but not driven to despair, persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed (2 Corinthians 4:4).

    When you find yourself in a bleak situation where you may not yet see God's purposes, you can rejoice, knowing that He is with you and that He is working out all things for your good.