Joy in the Unexpected - Your Nightly Prayer - December 2nd
Joy in the Unexpected
Your Nightly Prayer
by Shawna Foster
TONIGHT'S SCRIPTURE
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” Philippians 4:4
SOMETHING TO PONDER
I think most of us, when we think of what we want to experience at Christmas time, carry some version of this story in our mind... Sitting in our living room filled to the ceiling with a beautiful Christmas tree, all aglow. Adorned with beautiful and heartfelt decorations perfectly placed throughout the perfectly lit branches. The gentle scent of pine in the air, with a warm, cozy blanket wrapped around our legs, frothy hot chocolate, and a sentimental holiday movie playing softly in the background. We are surrounded by family and loved ones, snuggled in for the evening, our hearts filled with joy and the room filled with laughter as we make precious new memories together.
But for many, the realities of the hard things of this world weigh heavily on us, and even more at Christmas time. When a scary diagnosis, a rocky marriage, or kids who have wandered or who are challenging. The loss of a spouse, a child, a dear friend, or even a job makes us weary, stressed, and sometimes even angry as we go through what should be a happy holiday season. For many, Christmas isn’t a time filled with laughter and celebration; it’s filled with hurting hearts, tears, suffering, and the feeling of life just not looking like what we planned for it to look like. Instead of joy, we may feel dread, anger, depression, or sadness. The pain of our suffering may be unbearable during these holidays, causing us to want to do nothing more than hide under the warm weight of our covers as we bury ourselves in our beds.
In the book of Philippians, the Apostle Paul was chained up in a prison cell that was likely very cold, dreary, unbelievably disgusting, and miserable. As you can imagine, Paul was certainly in a less-than-he-planned-for situation. This can’t be how he imagined things would be when he decided to follow Jesus and was sent out to perform miracles and spread the message of good news and the kingdom of God.
The Apostle Paul, in the middle of his own “this isn’t what I planned or thought life would be like” moment, writes a letter to the Philippians sharing his own life as an example of how to respond to hardship with joy. Paul thanked them for their friendship and support, and for the money they had collected to help him. But it’s so much more than just a letter of thanks. Paul knows that the church is experiencing a lot of opposition themselves; definitely not what they had planned for. And I would imagine Paul was also carrying the weight of this persecution and hardship that they were facing in his own heart.
Paul writes to the people of the church, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4). Paul isn’t writing from a place of comfort or happiness. He is sharing his heart from a place of enduring real heartbreak, real pain, real suffering, and he knows the church is also feeling their own version of this. But from this place, he reminds us that our joy doesn’t come from our circumstances. From our diagnosis, our loss of a job, losing a loved one, or the chaos of the world around us. And that joy is possible even though we feel broken beyond measure! The Apostle Paul isn’t saying rejoice in your circumstances or rejoice in the things that are good. He is saying “Rejoice in the Lord!” “Always!” and it’s such an important message that Paul knows we might miss it. We might skip over it because, in our hurt, we’re likely to ignore it completely. So, he says, “I will say it again: Rejoice!” (broken down for emphasis!) He repeats himself twice because it’s such an important message and he doesn’t want us to miss it.
The things of this world are not where our hearts find joy. Let our hearts find joy and rejoice in the Lord! In His goodness. In His love. In His grace. Let’s rejoice in all He has done for us, even when life just doesn’t look like what we hoped it would. “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” Philippians 4:4
YOUR NIGHTLY PRAYER
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you so much for this timely and perfect reminder. Jesus arrived on earth under circumstances that I imagine looked very different from how Mary had hoped it would be. Thank you for reminding me that even though things may not look like how I hoped or planned for them to be, I can still rejoice in the Lord! I can still rest in joy even when the things of the world don’t feel good. Please help me to have a heart for finding Jesus in every moment, especially in my unmet expectations. Help me to remember Jesus in this challenging season. I love you, Jesus. Thank you for your love and sacrifice for me. Thank you for coming so that I have a way home. Please help my heart to be focused on you. In Jesus’s name,
Amen.
THREE THINGS TO PONDER UPON
1. What parts of your life right now look different from what you had planned or hoped for? Where can you see God’s hand helping or supporting you?
2. How can you find joy in who God is rather than the circumstances you’re facing right now? What would it look like to root your joy in His presence instead of unmet expectations?
3. What might God be teaching you in these times where life hasn’t turned out as you planned or hoped for? Can you trust that even when things don’t go the way we thought they would, that God is still good and still for you?
Reflect on tonight’s prayer and share how God met you there. Join the Your Nightly Prayer discussion on the Crosswalk Forum.
Photo Credit: Robert Thiemann/Unsplash
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