All We Need To Rejoice

“And there ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the LORD thy God hath blessed thee.” (De 12:7 AV)

By the ministry of the Holy Spirit, a thought occurred to me.  When reading this passage, we may focus on the first part of it.  We may notice the LORD encouraging us to enjoy those things which He has blessed us with.  There is nothing wrong with that.  In fact, it seems as though this might be a command.  Given that idea, what occurred to me is that what we need to live a joy-filled life is provided by the LORD.  All we need to have a life of joy is given by God’s grace.  This implies if we are discontent with our station in life, it is not because of lack.  God has given us all we need.  His blessings abound.  The things He gives are not all material.  He gives relationships.  He gives experiences.  He gives ideas, thoughts, and truths.  The blessings of God abound in so many types and in various amounts.  Again, if we are discontented, it is not God’s fault.

This provision includes all God provides.  Even those things we would rather not have.  No one wants to be ill.  No one wants to have bare cupboards.  No one wants a wayward child.  No one wants to be laid off, wondering how the bills are going to get paid.  No one wants persecution.  No one wants demonic oppression.  Yet, these things can turn into a blessing.  I am sure as Daniel was lowered into the lion’s den, he wasn’t celebrating by asking for more lions.  I am sure he felt a wee bit of anxiety.  As the three children were cast into the fiery furnace, they may have felt a bit of apprehension.  As Peter stepped out of the boat in the midst of a storm, he obviously battled fear.  As Jesus agonized in the garden, joy was hard to come by.  Yet, the Bible calls the crucifixion a joy that was set before Him.  Life is full of times we would rather not endure.  If we could trade them in or pass them off to someone who hates the LORD, perhaps we would take that option.  All these things, like Job’s trials, are for our joy.  Perhaps not at the precise moment in which we experience them, but they are.

We can fill our lives with all sorts of things, people, or experiences we think will offer joy.  But the fact is, the LORD provides this for us.  We can make one of two choices.  We can either accept all things as caused or allowed by God and worthy of immediate or delayed joy, or we can circumvent the provisions of God for joy and try to find it ourselves.  The latter only ends in more discontentment.  We can be content with what God has given, knowing He knows us better than we know ourselves, or we can doubt the wisdom and ability of the LORD by trying to find happiness on our own terms.  I was recently asked if I liked where I lived.  Did I wish I lived somewhere else?  I have lived long enough to know the best place to live is where God wants you.  The best thing in life to be doing is what God would have you do.  Find that, and you will find the joy that only faith and obedience can bring.  Heaven is my home.  Where I dwell on this planet matters not.  What matters is rejoicing in the grace and provision of the LORD no matter what that might look like.