The Things we Often Skip

Sometimes, in our familiarity with certain passages of Scripture, we miss out on an important part of it. I had that happen with me recently.

Almost all of Philippians 4:4-7 is familiar to us. It's quoted often in many different situations.

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your heats and minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4-7, CSB)

But, we often actually only use verses 4 and 6-7 when we quote it. For some reason, we skip over verse 5. We read the first part about rejoicing in the Lord and then we jump to the part about not worrying. But, in the part we skip, are four words that why it is possible for us to rejoice always and why we don't need to worry.

The Lord is near.

All of this is possible because God is right there. He is near. His closeness is the reason for us to rejoice always. We can count on Him and that is reason to celebrate.

We can also let go of our worries because He is near. We're not praying to a distant God and asking Him to take our worries; we literally get to hand then over to a God Who is right there. He takes them directly from us.

We can pray with thanksgiving because God is there. His presence, His nearness, means that if we take even a moment to look for His activity in our lives, we will see it. And it can result in gratitude.

We also experience His peace because He is right there. It is His presence that changes everything. He peace isn't something we have to try to manufacture. We experience it because of His nearness in the midst of all circumstances.

You may have noticed that I've actually still skipped a part of verse 5 in what I've said. We often skip this part of the verse too. I wanted to start with what we commonly talk about and how it ties together with part we easily skip over, but this doesn't mean the first part of verse 5 doesn't also fit in with what I'm saying.

Verse 5 says, "Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near." Gentleness is not something that comes naturally to us, or even is generally valued or encouraged by our society. The only way we can live it is to be dependent on God's presence with us, empowering us to live out our gentleness in a world that doesn't value it.

The Lord is near.

Really, in many ways, the four most important words in this passage. Yet, part that we too often skip in our focus on what else is said in this passage. They're words we cannot continue to skip, because they are key to understanding and living out all that these verses contain.

Why You Need to Play

When did you last play?

When did you last do something just because it was fun?

Do you think of play as something only children do?

We live in a society that prizes accomplishment. That is always pushing us to do more, to climb the ladder, to get to the next level of success. We're told not to waste time, but to maximize every minute we have.

As a result, we feel guilty when we waste time. We feel like we did something wrong when we did something just for the joy it brought us. Even when we take a vacation, we don't feel like we can really shut off work and enjoy a break.

In the midst of this, we've lost an important part of our relationship with God. We're missing something important.

A look at Jesus' life in the gospels shows us that we took time out to enjoy life. We see Him at weddings and parties with His disciples. He went to people's homes for dinner. Yes, Jesus performed miracles or gave challenging messages in those setting, but those don't seem to His primary plan in those situations. Jesus laughed with His friends. He was on earth one a mission, but He stopped to find joy and do things to enjoy them as He went about that mission.

In Philippians 4:4, Paul says, "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" Romans 12:15 tells us to, "Rejoice with those who rejoice." That means the joy we see Jesus finding is important to us as well.

One of the ways we learn to rejoice is by doing things for fun. By learning to play and to waste time again. If we don't know how to have fun, if we're always focussed on maximizing our productive time, we'll have a hard time rejoicing.

Is Discipline Enough?

Pleasure . . .

We spend much of our life seeking it.

We'll spend our money and give our time easily toward those things that bring us pleasure.

We were made for it.

We look for pleasure in all kinds of things and people.

But do we look for pleasure in our relationship with God? Are there times we really enjoy in our walk with God?

Or is it all about discipline? All about the things you have to do?

If it's all about discipline, you won't last long at anything - much less anything in your walk with God. Discipline is often the place we start, and as I wrote in a recent post, it is a way to create space for God to work in our lives.

But if it never moves beyond discipline - beyond that thing you do because you should - it won't last. You may be able to sustain it for days, weeks, months, or even years in some cases, but eventually discipline will fail.

That's where pleasure comes in. We seek it in many areas of our lives, but often not in our walk with God. But our walk with God is a place where we have to learn to find pleasure.

As King David says in Psalm 37:4, we need to "take delight in the Lord." That doesn't sound lie something that comes with discipline alone to me. It sounds like something more.

God wants us to find pleasure in what comes from His, In Psalm 16, David writes this:

"You make known to me the path of life;
          you fill me with joy in your presence,
          with eternal pleasures at your right hand."
                     (Psalm 16:11)

David seemed pretty sure that pleasure was something God desired for him to have. And that same God wants us find our pleasure in our relationship with Him as well.

If we look at David's life we see a man who struggled with sin and who made some big mistakes, yet he continued to seek God. David learned to find pleasure in God - in his relationship with God. It is possible.

So, how do we find pleasure in God?

David's life shows us that we seek God to find it. We cry out to God in and every situation - the good and the bad. The book of Osalms is filled with examples of David doing this.

And we ask God to show us how to find pleasure in our relationship with Him. God answers prayers, so if we ask Him, He will show us.

Often the way to finding pleasure in our relationship with God begins with discipline. Discipline is good and necessary, but it must move beyond that for it to last.

Be Present With

If we pay attention, we notice that most of Jesus' ministry was about being with people. Yes, He was a great teacher and He performed some incredible miracles, but much of what Jesus did was about simply being with people.

Jesus allowed Himself to be moved by the lives of the people He interacted with. The lives of His disciples. The lives of His friends. The lives of those in the crowds around Him. Compassion flows from Him as He is with these people.

Jesus was Present with His Friends

One of my favourite examples from Jesus' life on this is how He responded when He saw Mary and Martha after Lazarus had died. John 11:17-37 records this. Even though Jesus already knew He was going to raise Lazarus back to life, He will chose to enter into Mary and Martha's pain with them first.

John 11:35 simply records these words, "Jesus wept." Just a few verses before that, we read that Jesus "was deeply moved in spirit," (verse 33) when He saw Mary and Martha. Before He performed His miracle, He felt their pain. He came alongside them and was with them in their pain. Jesus was simply present with them.

Frederick Buechner describes this compassion this way:
"Compassion is sometimes the fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else's skin. It is the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too."

This is what Jesus with in John 11 with Mary and Martha. He entered into their pain and was with them in. And, after He had done that, He raised Lazarus from the dead.

This account in Scripture is just one example of Jesus being present with people in the midst of their pain and then their joy. It was Jesus' lifestyle.

Be Present

And as His followers, we are called to live this way as well. To be present with people in the midst of their pain and their joy. Being present doesn't mean we come in as someone with all the answers, it means we are simply with people in the midst of what is going on. We sit with them, listen to them, cry with them, laugh with them, and celebrate with them.

We often find it easier to laugh and celebrate with people. It's more comfortable. It's the part of life we prefer.

We tend to shy away from the pain of others, even though we notice it all around us. It's uncomfortable. If we're trying to avoid it in our lives, why would we enter into it in someone else's life?

But, if we're going to follow Jesus' example of really being present with people, we can't ignore the pain. In fact, I've learned that we celebrate the joy in people's lives more when we've also noticed and been present in the pain of people's lives. "Noticing pain is a path to noticing love." (Tad Dunne).

Being present with people. Having compassion for them. It's what we're called to as followers of Christ. It isn't easy, but it is the example Jesus set for us.

The Discipline of Joy

Putting the words discipline and joy together doesn't sound right to me at first hearing. They're not two words we often put together. And, until recently, I would have argued that they don't go together.

In the last week, I've had the discipline of joy come up in two separate Bible studies, so I started thinking more about it. Putting these words together may sound strange to our human ear, but they fit.

Often, the world we live in isn't one that pushes us toward joy naturally. The reality is that life can be hard and joy can be something at the bottom of the list for us in those times.

When we begin to look at Scripture, we quickly realize that the authors of it didn't really make joy an optional thing for followers of Christ. In Philippians 4:4, Paul says this, "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" 1 Thessalonians 5:16 tells us to "rejoice always."

These words coming form a man how didn't have a lot of reasons for joy from an earthly perspective. He had been beaten, shipwrecked, imprisoned. Yet, Paul knew the importance of joy in the life of a follower of Christ, no matter the circumstances.

So, if joy is something so important, it is commanded in Scripture, then maybe calling it a spiritual discipline isn't so far off.

Even the Old Testament Law provides commands for celebration in the life of Israel. Celebration and joy are that important to God. Important enough that He made allowance for them in His covenant with Israel.

If joy is so important, why don't we experience more of it in our lives? Why is it so absent? And why does it often seem so elusive?

We don't experience joy because we don't make it a regular practice in our lives. We allow it to be contingent on our circumstances. If we allow it to be contingent on our circumstances, we won't have much of it in our lives.

But we also miss moments of joy in our everyday lives, because we're looking for it to be something big. We think joy and celebration should be something special and unique.

And they can be, but they don't always have to be. Maybe what we need to be looking for is the moments of joy in each day that we easily miss. Look for the little things and take a moment to find joy in them.

And then we also need to learn to set aside regular times to celebrate. Much like the times appointed in the Old Testament Law, we need to set aside times for that in our own lives. We have to take the time to celebrate what God has done and is doing with each other.

How are you doing with the discipline of joy in your life?

Are you missing the moments for joy in your everyday life?

How can you develop the practice of looking for joy in the everyday moments in life?

When was the last time you intentionally set aside time to celebrate what God has done and is doing?

Where do You Find Joy and Delight?

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellence or praiseworthy - think about such things."  (Philippians 4:4-8)


In these five verses out of his letter to the church at Philippi Paul covers a lot of ground. He offers some very practical advice for living as a follower of Christ.

This is part one in a series of posts on these verses.

"Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice!" (vs. 4)

Paul seems pretty adamant about rejoicing. He repeats the same command twice in this verse.

Rejoice isn't a word we use everyday, so what does it mean? Rejoice means "to be glad, to take delight in; to make joyful."

Joy and delight are important in our lives. We need them to really live. Without them life could get pretty mundane and quite depressing.

There's a reason Paul is so adamant about these things - we need them. But it is just as important where we find our joy and delight. We need to find it in the Lord.

Why in the Lord?

Because He never changes. And He will never fail us, so we can always find joy and delight there.

Are you finding joy and delight in your life?

What are you finding them in?