Rejoice Always by Lisa Burkhardt Worley

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

“Don’t rejoice in your load. Rejoice in the Lord.” Those were profound words shared by well-known author Robert J. Morgan during our POP Talk radio interview with him. Morgan is the author of Red Sea Rules and Whatever Happens: How to Stand Firm in Your Faith When the World is Falling Apart. Sometimes we focus on all the bad stuff happening in our lives rather than what is going well. We glorify the load!

I remember listening to someone share her testimony once who went on about fifty minutes about her sinful past and left very little time for her turnaround story. I was so worn out by her load; I couldn’t take any more and wanted to escape.

We’ve all had troubles, but as the Apostle Paul encourages, we need to quit focusing on the bad in our lives and choose to rejoice in the Lord. He thought it was so important, he said it twice.

How do we rejoice when in despair?

We can rejoice about our salvation. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:9).

We can rejoice that we are children of God through belief in Jesus Christ. 1 John 3:1 says, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”

We can rejoice that God will always reveal the silver lining in any bad that occurs. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” Romans 8:28, NIV.

We do not have to carry our loads by ourselves. In Matthew 11, Jesus said to come to him when we are weary and burdened, and he will give us rest, and that is worth rejoicing over.

How difficult is it for you to rejoice when your load is heavy?

Heavenly Father, when I begin to feel loaded down with problems, help me to remember to turn the load over to you and rejoice that you provide divine help.