Many of us memorize the command to rejoice evermore from 1 Thessalonians 5:16, but applying it during a rough week is a different story.
We've all been there. You're trying your best to walk the straight and narrow, stick to your convictions, and live out what you've been memorizing — and then the world hits back. Maybe it's a coworker's sarcastic comment, a family member's eye-roll, or just that heavy feeling that you're swimming upstream while everyone else is floating effortlessly with the current.
It's tempting to get discouraged. It's tempting to think, "If I'm following the right path, why does it feel so uphill?"
Rejoice Always Takes the Opposite Direction
Being a Christian means going against the grain. We shouldn't be surprised when the world notices the difference. In fact, if we never face any pushback, we might want to double-check which way we're walking.
When people mock your faith or question your choices, they are essentially confirming that you don't belong to the world's system. You belong to something higher.
Finding the Rejoice Evermore in the Persecution
We are often told to "rejoice always," but that feels impossible when you're being ridiculed. How do you flip the switch from feeling hurt to feeling joyful? It starts with changing your perspective on what that opposition actually means:
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You're in Good Company
When you face hardship for your faith, you're standing in the same line as the heroes of the Bible. The prophets and the apostles walked this exact same path.
"And what more shall I say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:" — Hebrews 11:32 (KJV)
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You're Following the Master
If the world pushed back against Jesus, it's going to push back against us. To be treated like He was is actually a badge of honor. It shows that people see a reflection of Him in you.
"Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also." — John 15:20 (KJV)
"For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God." — 1 Peter 2:20 (KJV)
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The Reward is Real
Our perspective is often stuck on the next five minutes, but our reward is eternal. Every bit of temporary "roughness" today is factored into a much larger, heavenly story.
"For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." — 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (KJV)
The Test of Rejoice Always
There is one important catch: we have to make sure we're being "opposed" for the right reasons. There's no honor in being treated poorly because we're being difficult or unkind. The goal is to be persecuted for sound doctrine and godly character. If you are standing firm on the Word of God and acting with love, and people still give you a hard time? That's when you can truly rejoice.
"If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf." — 1 Peter 4:14-16 (KJV)
Next time you feel the weight of following Christ, don't let your head hang low. Use it as fuel. It's a confirmation that you are on the right path, following the right Leader, and heading toward an incredible reward.