Hosanna Restoration Church

How in the world can God expect us to rejoice in the middle of our problems? This is a question that many people have. Other translations say things like we should rejoice, or we do rejoice, but this translation says that we can rejoice. The truth is that we do not always rejoice in these times. Many times we realize later that we would have been better off if we would have. The other responses to trials and problems don’t help us much. Things like fear, anger, and worry just wear us out.

In the previous verse God points out that because we have faith in Christ, He has brought us into a place of highest privilege. This is a place where we confidently and joyfully look forward to the glory of God. In other words, no matter what is going on, when we learn to stand in this kind of faith, we have a joyful expectancy that God is about to take care of everything. Again, the truth is that we don’t always handle that way. But it is a good thing to know that we can if we want too.

God does not say that we have to handle it this way. He is not going to love us any less if we don’t. Personally, I like God’s way best. Things always go better when I do things His way. We can disagree with God all we want, but in the end we will find that He was, is, and always will be right. If we want to enjoy the Kingdom of God to the fullest, we are going to have to enter it His way.

This particular passage is one of those keys to the Kingdom of God. Rejoicing in God and expecting Him to reveal His glory in the best and the worst of situations is a very liberating truth. It gives us the perfect answer to that frequently asked question, “what are we going to do now?”

Don’t say you can’t rejoice! God says you can! The truth is that we won’t rejoice sometimes. Even if we know it would feel better, our natural thinking fights against the Spirit of God who is telling us to just trust God and do what He says. His keys are the ones that unlock the doors. We can stand outside and worry, get mad, or even yell at God and blame Him for the problems but it won’t do any good. It is when we act in faith that we move into that place of privilege. When we finally go searching for what God says and then doing it, the door opens.

The other day the door lock button got hit on our vehicle and the keys were in the ignition. I am not sure who hit the button, but I do know who left the keys in the wrong place. Sometimes I handle things the right way, and this was one those times. Before I looked for someone to blame and ruined everyone’s day, I decided it was my fault. Then I said, “Lord help, what should I do.” He gave me the answer, I rejoiced and took His advice and He provided. I realize that this was only a small problem, but God is the same size in every problem. He is faithful, no matter what. They are all small compared to Him. We can rejoice! It takes faith, but we can rejoice. That is the good news.