How can one rejoice when everything seems to go wrong?

[bluidkiti]

IN THE LORD

MEMORY VERSE: Rejoice in the LORD, 0 ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright (Psalm 33:1).

Rejoice in the Lord is a command given in both the Old and New Testaments. Paul admonished the Christians at Philippi: Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice (Philippians 4:4).

But how can one rejoice when all his castles are tumbling and everything seems to go wrong? Can we rejoice over unpaid bills? Poor health? A divided family? The loss of a job? Jangled nerves?

Perhaps not.

But we can rejoice in the Lord!

When everything seems to be coming apart, He is unchanged. Though others forsake us, He remains faithful. If financial reverses come, He provides for our needs. When earthly gain turns to loss, He offers permanent treasure in the bank of heaven. If death seems imminent, He has given eternal life. Though the love of those nearest us cool, His love is constant.

The rejoicing of the psalmist had to find expression. He played the harp, the psaltry, and an instrument of ten strings. He sang songs of praise. It was impossible to hold in his joy. Some may have thought him too emotional. Perhaps they preferred dead-pan religion. Nevertheless, the psalmist rejoiced in the Lord and announced his joy to others. His praise was public and he was not ashamed.

Regardless of the circumstances, we can rejoice in the Lord. Christians should never be "under the circumstances." Our Lord is above all. Today's problems have not taken Him by surprise. Praise the Lord! --JVI

[MajestyJo]

Was asked this in early recovery and many times after ward. She had a government job, a car, and had her own house; and I had a bachelor apartment and was on disability. I could not believe she asked. She had several years in recovery. Recovery is NOT about who you are, what you have, or how long you have in recovery, it is one day at a time. I had under a year in recovery.

All I had when I moved into my first bachelor apartment was 8 garbage bags of stuff, a tri-light and a small square table from an aunt. I borrowed a mattress and slept on the floor, dishes and pots and pans. My God provided and I moved into a one bedroom apartment and ended up sharing what I had with others.

A guy said to me, "There is no reason asking how you are, you are always fine." It was true, I was clean and sober.
How could I rejoice? I was clean and sober. I had found the God of my understanding, and through Him, I found myself.

[deeek]

I try to have a heavenly perspective, I believe The Lord is coming soon.

[RickyWard]

I don't believe that there is a lord who is called salvation and i hope this time i open my mind on that matter, I wish that Lord give me strength overcome all my illnesses.

[BW1]

Originally Posted by RickyWard

I don't believe that there is a lord who is called salvation and i hope this time i open my mind on that matter, I wish that Lord give me strength overcome all my illnesses.

Hi Ricky

How you doing?

Thanx for sharing...It is ok to share whatever is on your mind..If you have a 12 X 12 The 12 Steps and 12 Tradition Book may I suggest you read on Step 2...It says ..paraphrasing here....you do not have to swallow all of step 2 in one bite you can take it piece meal. Nor do you have to believe the way anyone else does whether it is in the rooms or the folks you hang out with out of the rooms...The Higher Power is a very personal intimate friend to you and you alone

For me --I do call HP...God. And that God has changed and gotten larger and bigger over the 24 hours I have been on this journey of recovery..What helped me was my sponsor strongly suggesting I read and reread the chapter.."WE AGNOSTICS"..

There is a paragraph in that chapter that seemed to jump off the page and bite my nose after I read it several times... I will not say which paragraph that is so so as not to sway your understanding.

What I can also suggest is..."KEEP IT SIMPLE" try not to over ANAL- ize...accept the fact that you might not understand things all at once and that is ok...none of us did [I only thought I did and I only thought (with my broken thunker of course that I had all the answers ] It was not until I surrendered that broken thunker and arrogant knowledge that I became teachable.

Peace on the journey my friend..Thanx for joining us on the road of Happy Destiny

[deeek]

I guess I say nothing lasts forever and this too shall pass and this life in the world is just a blink of an eye in the face of eternity. It is what gets me out of bed in the morning. My hope in the Lord's return.

Maranatha!!

[RickyWard]

Originally Posted by BW1

Hi Ricky

How you doing?

Thanx for sharing...It is ok to share whatever is on your mind..If you have a 12 X 12 The 12 Steps and 12 Tradition Book may I suggest you read on Step 2...It says ..paraphrasing here....you do not have to swallow all of step 2 in one bite you can take it piece meal. Nor do you have to believe the way anyone else does whether it is in the rooms or the folks you hang out with out of the rooms...The Higher Power is a very personal intimate friend to you and you alone

For me --I do call HP...God. And that God has changed and gotten larger and bigger over the 24 hours I have been on this journey of recovery..What helped me was my sponsor strongly suggesting I read and reread the chapter.."WE AGNOSTICS"..

There is a paragraph in that chapter that seemed to jump off the page and bite my nose after I read it several times... I will not say which paragraph that is so so as not to sway your understanding.

What I can also suggest is..."KEEP IT SIMPLE" try not to over ANAL- ize...accept the fact that you might not understand things all at once and that is ok...none of us did [I only thought I did and I only thought (with my broken thunker of course that I had all the answers ] It was not until I surrendered that broken thunker and arrogant knowledge that I became teachable.

Peace on the journey my friend..Thanx for joining us on the road of Happy Destiny

Thanks! i feel that you are an angel falling from heaven that gives me strength and more courage to become better

[MajestyJo]

May I ask how you perceive to come from a Heavenly Perspective? I pray to my God to heal my perception. It is part of my disease, not my recovery.

Although it is always good to say, "What would Jesus do?" before we do it.

[MajestyJo]

The say the God of your understanding. If you have no understanding, do what I did, I went on a spiritual quest. I got to a year sober and didn't have a clue who my God was to me and had no perception.

Just keep coming and more will be revealed.

I like your cartoons, I got to a place in recovery that I was addicted to to the computer and building sites. I prayed and asked for help. It was mostly my thinking, that I had to change and lose the total obsessive, compulsive thoughts followed by actions, that needed an attitude adjustment.

I was told anything can be my Higher Power as long as it wasn't me. At first, mine was the group. As I found the spiritual principles, my mind open, and I saw many things. My spirituality helped to enhance my religious beliefs from my child hood and I was able to develop a new relations with my God. It doesn't matter what you believe and if it is different than what others believe, your God will reveal Him/Her/It to you.