Euodia and Syntyche - Pt 2

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 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 surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:4-9 ESV). The first tactic the Apostle Paul mentions is to “rejoice in the Lord always” (v. 4). While I have included the entire context in our reading today, the key to this first step is stated without fanfare, simply put. While it is simple it is also counterintuitive. So, the apostle repeats it a few words later. It is a verb that means to feel or show great joy or delight. Some synonyms for this verb are: happiness, pleasure, joy, gladness, elation, delight, elation, cheer, jubilation, euphoria, delirium, ecstasy, rapture, transports of delight, exuberance, exultation, glory, triumph, celebration, revelry, merrymaking, festivity, or feasting.

When the floor drops out from under you, your best friend hates you, rumors multiply, people misunderstand, and the public mixes up the facts, you’re probably not having much fun. Trust me. I’ve been there. I still have the front page newspaper clipping to prove it! As a young pastor of the First Baptist Church of Mt. Pleasant, Texas, I was approached by one of the ladies in the church who had recently been certified in a lady’s aerobic class designed to combine exercise, Bible Study, and fellowship for ladies. You must also know this took place in the late 70’s; dancing of any kind was not tolerated well in Baptist churches of that era. An enterprising reporter of the daily paper thought it would be eye-catching to use the headline “Dancing Goes Underground at the First Baptist Church.” By the way, I should mention the exercise sessions were held three steps below ground level in the fellowship hall, thus the “underground” reference. It did cause quite a stir, and a special called deacon’s meeting to investigate this “scandalous activity” (insert dripping sarcasm). After the dust settled, and more than one headache, the activity continued with strict guidelines insuring privacy and “purity of heart.” I can tell you those meetings were not fun for me. On more than one occasion I just wanted to throw up my hands in surrender However, I began learning the lesson that joy, real happiness, is possible only by remembering that joy is primarily about what God has done for me (cf. Philippians 2:1-11). Joy is the byproduct of a belief that difficult situations have a good purpose (cf. Philippians 1:18-21). The goal is not to win; the goal is to rejoice in the Lord always!