“Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” (Matt. 5:12)
“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18)
My lovely wife says that I am a compassionate person, I personally cannot see what she sees, especially when I am in pain, which I am once again. Rejoicing and not counting these days as worthy is difficult for me, and although I attempt to praise our Father in heaven in these days, I feel that I fail miserably.
As that word “rejoicing” in the first verse offered to you today states, it is not an option, for the inverse would be, even in some very small way, to blame the Lord in these days of pain, and that is not something we ever want to do.
“Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.” (Job 38:4)
But I do not believe it means to be happy, as we interpret that word. Seeing a loved one after a long period of time is not the same rejoicing as when you have a thorn in your side.
To not count these days as worthy to even contemplate perhaps is closer to the mark if your affections are set on things above, if when the pain arrives your desire is still to seek His face for His glory, and rest in the promises of a future with no pain, suffering or sorrow.
Perhaps then the realization, the assurance of those promises, is how we can rejoice even in the pit of pain. But even that should not be our focal point.
I am still doing what I have been commanded to do, as all who have been born-again are commanded to do, I, with this pen, am going into all the world to seek the lost, to encourage the brethren, to let them know that we are never going to be left alone, and in that, perhaps above everything else, we can rejoice.
But to be truthfully honest, I still do not like it, but maybe I could blame my flesh for that.
“Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” (Heb. 12:11)
I am not saying that I am being chastised, punished, and in all reality and that lightly, for some sin, if He points one out to me, I will thank Him, and rejoice. There is no such thing as chance, luck or coincidence, all things happen for good, so in that knowledge, even in these days, I can rejoice.
In other words, my friends, when these days come upon us, the question should never be why, but how, how can I still serve you?
When the flesh is beyond weak, when the mind is suffering with sorrow or grief, in every circumstance, how can I still serve you for your glory.
“And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2nd Cor. 12:9)
How we are to react to these types of days is necessary to our growth in the grace and knowledge of the Lord, but there is another situation that it would be wise of you to consider, and it is how we are to pray for those in their days of pain, suffering, trials and tribulations.
I know we want to pray for them to be healed, to be freed from those days, and we should, but even above that, above that they would know why these days are upon them, our prayers should be of how for them. How can they still glorify the Almighty in the midst of their own furnace of fire.
“Thy will be done” is good, but in all reality, it is not enough. That is not rejoicing.
The question for you today then is this, do you know the difference between being happy and rejoicing in days such as this.
Perhaps that is what He is teaching me.
