When I think about rejoicing, the first thing that comes to my mind is a happy moment. That is natural because “rejoice” means “to feel joy or great delight“. The Bible describes dozens of moments when the Lord tells His people to rejoice when they receive a blessing or deliverance.

But to contradict our “common sense”, there are some episodes in the Bible when people rejoiced although they were going through tough times.

Let’s take a look at Hannah’s story (1 Samuel chapters 1 and 2). She was barren and it was a burden for her. She wanted really bad to have her own children. She wanted it so bad that she went to the temple, talked to the Lord and promised Him that if she had a son she would give him back to God.

At the beginning of chapter 2 we find Hannah praising the Lord:

“My heart rejoices in the LORD […] There is no one holy like the LORD; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.”

One would obviously think that she had just found out that she was pregnant or maybe the boy has just been born. But if you look at the last verses of chapter 1, you will see that actually Hannah has just given up the boy to fulfill her promise to God. She gave her son to be raised by the priest Eli and yet was able to rejoice and praise the Lord. Why? How?

We find a clue in her own words:

“I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD.” – 1 Samuel 1:27-28

She was rejoicing because God had blessed her and also because her son’s life would be dedicated to the Lord. She wasn’t thinking about herself or how she would miss him. She was thinking about how her son would fit into God’s plan.

If you look at the New Testament, you will find even more references to rejoicing during trials or tough times. Take a look at a few of them:

The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. – Acts 5:41

“Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.” – Paul’s quote from Colossians 1:24

“In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.” – Peter’s quote from 1 Peter 1:6

For the New Testament authors, suffering in the name of Christ was a legitimate reason for rejoicing. In fact, they were doing what Jesus told them to:

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” – Matthew 5:11-12

The real reason for rejoicing is not our own temporary moment of happiness or satisfaction. It is knowing that God is with us, we are part of His plan and we are following His will. It is knowing that the only things that matter are eternal, and those are the things we should rejoice about.

That’s how we can do it even through the tough times. Because we know that there is a bigger plan going on, we are part of it, whatever we are going through is part of it, and God is always in control.

What God wants from us is a shift of focus: instead of focusing on our own present situation, either good or bad, we should focus on Him and His will, so we can truly rejoice. Always.

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! – Philippians 4:4

---

This post is part of the One Word at a Time Blog Carnival. If you want to read other posts that were written based on the word “rejoice”, go to PeterPollock.com.