“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 your 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 excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Philippians 4:4–8 NIV).
This instruction from Paul is difficult to live out, but it is central to our Christian faith. A life that follows Jesus is a life that knows peace and joy. But verse eight also indicates that there’s some curating of our thoughts that has to happen in order to keep our minds focused on the things that cultivate that joy and peace.
Human nature does not default to what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely and admirable. We quite like scandalous gossip. We like narratives that portray us as the hero or the victim. We hold on to our illusion of control.
There’s this idea that Jesus followers should be known for their constant positivity.—Always upbeat, always happy. In today’s culture it has become associated with being fake. The idea that you are oblivious to anything negative or evil so that you portray only positive things is not what Paul is talking about. He’s not preaching toxic positivity.
He’s saying to rejoice in the Lord. Yes, the world is a mess, but God is sovereign! Yes, we hurt sometimes, but God is faithful! Yes, we are afraid and anxious, but our hope is in the Lord! We only have that joy and peace because we focus our minds on who God is and what Jesus accomplished on the cross.
The ability to focus on what is good, true, and just comes from knowing who God is and letting Him be the biggest presence in our heart and minds. If you’re out in a wide-open field on a sunny day, it’s easy to focus on the sun. You feel its heat, you see its light, it’s not obscured by structures or trees.
Like the sun, God is bigger than all of your problems, or even the world’s problems. And we can rejoice in the Lord because we know that He will fulfill His promises.