November 7

Rejoicing or resigned?

“But rejoice inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy” (1 Peter 4:13).
“Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets” (Luke 6:23).

Joy is “the fruit of the Spirit”—not a counterfeit, but real, with supernatural and divine power. The Lord Jesus Christ told His disciples that hard times meant blessing. This is what He said: “Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake.”
And how did the Lord say the disciples should take these experiences when they came? With resignation? God forbid! This is what He said: “Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy.” They were to look upon these experiences with thanksgiving and exultation, as an investor would look upon an investment that was going to bring him inordinately large returns, and returns absolutely guaranteed by resources that never could fail. “For,” continued the Lord, “behold, your reward is great in heaven.”


It is good to remember, every time some fresh affliction comes, that we are making an investment with assured returns of 100 or 1,000 or even a greater percentage in dividends. There is nothing to be resigned about in having investments that are making us rich beyond words. Therefore, “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.”
It is better to rejoice than to be resigned. The word “resigned” is not found in the Bible, but “rejoice” runs through the Scriptures like a great carillon of music. There is danger of self-pity in resignation—and self-pity is a deadly poison. There is no danger that we may be pitying ourselves while we are rejoicing with “joy unspeakable and full of glory.” Resignation often means a certain mock piety—perhaps unconsciously so, but none the less real. Frances Havergal once said that with her the will of God used to be a sigh, but now it was a song.
—E. C. W. Boulton.

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