You Can Rejoice. Right Now.

There are a million raindrops on the window.  Each one is like a crystal gem, clear whiteness watching me in little, round faces.  They don't trail down in lines now that the rain has paused.  They only watch.

They see the geese in the yard, playing in the wet grass and having the time of their lives.  The droplets hear thunder still rolling through the air like a bowling ball.  They catch sight of the mist growing on the horizon, the calves with sparkling rain against their dark fur, the puddles that reflect the white-blue of the sky.

The rain is starting to fall again.  I wonder if it smells like petrichor outside - that fresh scent of rain when it first falls.  I love that smell.  Well, I've always thought rainy days were the best, after all.

Maybe it's raining on your house, dear reader.  Or perhaps it's dry, hot.  The sunflowers might be standing tall or they might be falling to the earth under the mist.  But either way, I'm stopping to see the world, pausing before my busy day begins, and rejoicing.  I hope you are too.

Because rejoicing is a decision.  And I'm going to rejoice right now.

One time I tried to study what the Bible says about joy.  It didn't work the way I wanted it to.  I was looking for the "how"... how can I rejoice?  How can it be easier?  How can I find joy in my life?

I laugh now to think of it, because the verses I found were so opposite to what I expected.  On my lined paper, I wrote passages sweeping in cursive lettering, but they all basically said the same theme:

In Your presence is fullness of joy...

- Psalm 16:11

Other verses word it differently.  The joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10).  We will rejoice in the Lord and in the God of our salvation (Habakkuk 3:18).  His servants will sing for joy of heart (Isaiah 65:14).  There's probably so much more context if you explored the backgrounds of the verses, but over and over again, God stresses the same fact.

There is no "how".  The answer is that those who follow Jesus rejoice.  It's what they do.

It's that simple.

In Jesus, we rejoice.  You can rejoice right here, right now.  Wherever you are, whatever is going on, you can have joy.

God has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3), and that includes joy.  Rejoicing is a decision to turn our eyes upon Jesus instead of focusing on our own situations.

Paul rejoiced while in prison, and he also wrote a book of the Bible that mentioned rejoicing at least 15 times.  That's in only four chapters.  (and yes, please go read Philippians right now - it's packed full of goodness)

Let's be like Paul and,

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

- Philippians 4:4

But what does this look like practically?

For me, it means deciding at the beginning of the day to focus on Jesus.  It means to take everything that happens and turn it into a song of thankfulness.

This morning, I rejoiced in the rain and the thunder.  In throwing dirty laundry in the washer, even if the boys' socks were inside-out.  In the way my little sister's legs crossed over to my side of the bed in her sleep.  In the fact that I was going to get a late start to my day by writing this post.  And in that frog that just croaked close to my window.

I rejoiced.  And I'm still rejoicing.

Because being joyful is a decision, and I am choosing that today.  I often forget and live for myself, but right now, right here, I want to find Jesus.

Even when the stoplight turns red, He is still God.  When accidents happen, headaches come, babies cry, canning jars don't seal right (that totally didn't happen this week).  He is still God.

Being thankful is simply realizing that He is in control.  So we thank Him because every single circumstance is part of His greater plan.

That thing you're afraid of, He put it there for a reason.  Rejoice!

It's okay to be sad, to hurt for a friend, to be broken, but we mustn't stay there.  In His presence in fullness of joy.  Why would we settle for less?

We rejoice in Jesus, not in anything else.  He is Joy.  When our eyes are on Him, nothing else matters.

Choose to rejoice so that you can find more of Jesus.  Seek Him today.  He will be found.

Maybe I'll go play in the rain or do the laundry or pay a visit to the geese still playing in the wet grass.  Maybe I'll visit the rows of sunflowers that bow in the rain; I don't know what my day holds.  But that's okay.  He is always good.  Why wouldn't I rejoice?

And right now, dear friend, you are being loved.  Rejoice!

But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;

Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them;

Let those also who love Your name

Be joyful in You.

- Psalm 5:11

~♥~