Suffering and Friendship: True Rejoicing in the Lord

Based on Philippians 4

Has anyone ever dismissed your pain by simply telling you to rejoice in the Lord? I have seen Christians use this phrase in so many hurtful ways, and I was so encouraged to read these well known verses in their full context as I studied Philippians.

Let’s recap this letter so far: Paul is suffering in prison, and yet has taken the time to write encouragement to his friends. He has called them to unity, to the truest definition of love, to humble themselves, to work hard at obedience, and to remember that only faith in Jesus saves us. He has talked about hardship, the promise of persecution, and the value of suffering like Christ.

It’s now, after Paul has acknowledged pain, hardship, and difficulty, that he encourages his friends to also rejoice.

“Therefore… stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.” (4:1)

“Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say, rejoice.” (4:4)

And after rejoicing Paul encourages his friends in their anxiety:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

Paul knows that suffering is hard. He knows it brings anxiety. He knows it wears on our hearts, minds and bodies. Yet he still urges his friends to rejoice. One reason we can rejoice, is because of this “holy exchange” God promises. We hand him our fears, and he gives us his peace. That peace guards us in a way that is difficult to even put into words.

This is the context of our rejoicing. That God sees us, God hears us, and God cares about us.

Paul wasn’t telling his friends to rejoice in order to dismiss their pain, he was inviting them to rejoice in their pain.

One of our girls has terrible nightmares often involving scary things happening to her sisters. Sometimes at bedtime she’ll start to get anxious about even falling asleep because she’s afraid she’ll have one of the dreams. So, I’ll sit next to her bed and we do an exchange. She tells me what she is anxious about, and then I offer peaceful thoughts.

One by one we’ll go through her sisters and I’ll ask where that sister is. She’ll respond that her sister is in her bed. We’ll repeat that her sister is safe, is holding her blankie, is tucked in and cozy. As we exchange the anxious thoughts for the real truth, her body begins to relax and her head sinks deeper into her pillow.

In a much more perfect sense, that is what God offers to do for us. And so, even when the anxious thoughts are still present, even when the suffering is still painful, we can still rejoice with the hope that God will meet all our needs in Christ Jesus.

This is the final post for this series. If you are new here – I occasionally put together series like this based on my own time in God’s Word. I make these posts from the notes in my own journals, the prayers I’ve prayed, and the concepts I’m wrestling with. None of the posts in this series were intended to add burdens to weary shoulders, but instead were meant to add dignity and beauty to our trials. So often, when we are suffering, we see ourselves as purely being needy and taking from our friends. But here, Paul was suffering and serving. Even as we wrestle, pray, cry, and meditate on God’s Word – we can serve our friends in every season of life. May you be encouraged to lean into Jesus today.