Good morning…
As the Women’s Ministry Director at Northside Church, I love visiting with people who are facing unique challenges. Disease. Divorce. Depression. Difficult decisions. Death of a loved one. One person who has been a vibrant part of our ministry for years has also become the Pastoral Care Executive Assistant at our church. Through a freak accident, she recently broke several bones in both of her feet and has been forced to work from home as her injuries heal. So yesterday I packed up some homemade soup, I creatively packaged a blooming yellow lily, and I drove to her house for a delightful visit.
Before hopping in the car, I opened up our church’s daily devotional message, a message which just happened to be written by the woman I was to visit. Her words reveal the tender, transformative power of God.
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September 9th – Northside Weekdays: A Devotional Voice To Center Your Day by Leigh Ann Ayres
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! – Philippians 4:4-8
I am just being real here…………..I am having trouble with today’s verse that Paul is saying to the Philippians and to us. If I am honest, I don’t feel like rejoicing right now. I have broken some bones and cannot drive………….which is the equivalent of an Adult Time Out and being grounded for weeks, a dear family member has been diagnosed with late stage terminal cancer, and one of my children is keeping me on my knees in constant prayer with worry.
We all begin as Jesus consumers……….asking ourselves “what’s in it for me?” So, when things get tough, it is very easy to forget rejoicing. But at some point, we have to move from consumer to follower and decide whose agenda we are going to follow. Sometimes we are tempted to un-follow Jesus. The disciples faced times like that, but ultimately, all but one (Judas) traded in their own agenda. I find myself in this tug of war with God…………..I want to want what God wants more than what I want, but I find it so very hard to pry my tight little fingers off my own will for my child, my loved ones, or my frustrating brittle bones.
So why do we rejoice in the great days and in the not so great days too? Because overwhelming faith honors God, and it frees us to fully trust in Him. God is not telling us to follow a religion we must endure, but instead a relationship to enjoy. And that is certainly something that I can rejoice in!
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest,” Jesus says in Matthew 11:28.
How blessed we are to have a Lord who invites us to come to him and offers us rest. With this invitation, I can easily say “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”
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Resting in the presence of our living Lord together, our weary burdens lighten as the art of rejoicing mysteriously multiplies among us.
All praises belong to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he is the Father of tender mercy and the God of endless comfort. He always comes alongside us to comfort us in every suffering so that we can come alongside those who are in any painful trial. We can bring them this same comfort that God has poured out upon us. And just as we experience the abundance of Christ’s own sufferings, even more of God’s comfort will cascade upon us through our union with Christ (2 Corinthians 1:3-5, TPT).
…Sue…
