Rejoicing and Design

“Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”

—Matthew 5:10-12

            Rejoicing as Christ wants us to rejoice is linked with design in a very important way.   Until we accept God’s design for our life, and acknowledge Him as the Designer, we will never be able to follow this essential command of being able to rejoice.  Of course, everyone wants to rejoice.  We want to have joy in our lives.  If we refuse to be content in the way we are designed, that attribute is unattainable.  Joy is not dictated by our circumstances.  If it was, we would be on a constant roller coaster because circumstances are always changing.  However, if we trust that God has designed us a certain way, and relinquish control to Him over the way we look, the situations we are in, and certain unchangeable things, we will be able to have consistent joy.

            I heard the story of a family from the perspective of one of the daughters in the family, after she was grown up.  You may have heard the story before.  There were several children in the family, but the father had died, and they lost their main source of income.  Yet, they were always joyful.  They lived in a small house, and did not have much, but what they did have, they appreciated.  There were only three forks to split amongst seven people, so they made it a game to see who would get a fork each night.  One Sunday at church, the pastor announced that the church would be collecting money for a poor family in the congregation.  The pastor told the congregation to be generous and sacrificial since this family really needed their help.

            When the family left the church, they talked over what they could do to help the family.  They did not have a lot of money, but perhaps if they cut their food bill, and only had potatoes for supper for the next month, and did not use lights at night, or listen to the radio, to save money on electricity, they could donate the saved money to the poor family.  That month was one of the happiest times the family had.  They kept thinking of ways to get more money for the poor family, and imagining how excited the family would be to receive it.  The Sunday the money was to be given to the poor family, this family walked to church, singing and talking excitedly.  It was raining, but they hardly noticed.  Joyfully, they put the money in the offering plate.  They had saved 80 dollars.

            At home, when they were talking, the doorbell rang.  The mother went to answer the door, and returned quietly with an envelope.  She dumped the contents on the table.  It was 97 dollars.  Suddenly, they realized that they were the poor family the minister had talked about.  Nobody said a word.  Were they really poor?  They had not realized it before.  Did the other people in the church know?  What about the kids at school?

            The next week was miserable.  The children were ashamed to go to school, and did not want to show up at the church again where everyone knew they were poor.  But that Sunday, the mother still made them get up and get ready.  The sun was shining, but nobody felt like talking, and when the mother tried to rouse a song as they walked to church, nobody joined in.  That day there was a missionary at the church, raising money for people’s roofs in a foreign country.   He told them a hundred dollars would get someone a roof.  The pastor told the people to be generous.  The family members looked at each other and smiled, and dropped the money they had been given into the offering plate.  After service, when the money had been counted, the missionary was ecstatic.  There was 117 dollars. The congregation was small, but, “You must have some rich people in your church,” he told the pastor. The family suddenly realized that they had given the bulk of the money, and they were the ones the missionary was talking about.  They must be rich, because the missionary had said so.  And, once again, they were joyful.

            I believe that is the secret to rejoicing.  Do not let other people’s opinions and views of you drag you down.  God designed you and the circumstances you are in for a reason.  Agree with the apostle Paul shortly after he told us to rejoice in Philippians chapter 4, and say, “I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content.”   That is the secret to real joy.

(By the way, this little story was originally found by my friend Pastor Tony Skinner in the book: Chicken Soup for the Golden Soul.)  
Canfield, Jack, and Mark Victor. Hansen. Chicken Soup for the Soul: 101 Stories to Open the Heart & Rekindle the Spirit. Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications, 1993. Print.