Revolutionary Response

Bible Verse “4Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! 5 Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. 6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." [Philippians 4: 4-7]

• I guess we’d all like to think that we love to celebrate the good news our friends tell us of. After all, we enjoy seeing them happy, getting as much out of life as possible and finding answers to their prayers. Don’t we...?
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• Yet, what happens inside us when everything in their lives seems to always work out perfectly? How does this make us feel? What if the answers to their prayers have been those same longings we’ve prayed for, yet not received ourselves...the exam results, a family member healed, the perfect job, a boyfriend/girlfriend, a lovely house. How do we, as their friends, deal with our reaction to their joys?
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• This is tough, and requires a difficult, revolutionary response from us; one completely opposite from the competitive, selfish and envious nature of our fallen world.
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• You see, finding it hard to celebrate the very things we’ve wanted but not received ourselves, is not wrong in and of itself. Yet how we react to this really determines whether we mature as people of God. Do we take our feelings to God or do we take them out on our friends. Do we make the choice to celebrate with them and thank God for all He’s given them, or do we let our feelings of resentment fester?
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• When we choose to rejoice with those who rejoice - taking our private feelings to God in prayer - we begin to cultivate a revolutionary outlook on life; one that looks for the good God is doing in the lives of others without always comparing what we don’t have ourselves. We begin to be people who thank God for what He has done in our lives, not what we would have Him do now.