REJOICE! WHY?

Ron Simkins – October 6, 2026 1 Comment

I have just finished listening to The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World by the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu with co-author Douglas Abrams interweaving modern scientific research on happiness throughout. And, as Ron Simkins shares below, we can easily get bogged down in worries and lose focus on God’s love for us expressed through Jesus. May Ron’s reflections on scripture and life encourage you and help you to experience the peace that God offers us. -Renée

Various forms of the words joy and rejoice likely occur more than 90 times in the New Testament translation you are using. And, those same word groups likely occur almost 250 times in whatever Old Testament translation you use. What is especially fascinating to me is not the Psalms that express joy for wonderful outcomes and victories, but the many times we are encouraged to be joyful and rejoice even when life is confusing and frustrating.

At New Covenant we sing a song, I admit that sometimes I sing it with trepidation, that comes almost directly from the prophet Habakkuk.

Though the fig tree does not blossom,
        and no fruit is on the vines;
        though the produce of the olive fails,
        and the fields yield no food;
        though the flock is cut off from the fold,
        and there is no herd in the stalls,
     yet I will rejoice in the LORD; (Habakkuk 3:17-18a)

WHY?  Here is how Habakkuk completes his thought.

GOD, the Lord, is my strength;
     I will exult in the God of my salvation. (3:18b-19)

(And “exult” wasn’t even in the word counts I mentioned above.)

Paul wrote a passage that isn’t quite so stark, but it is still very challenging.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.  Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Jesus the Messiah. (Philippians 4:4-7)

I do not quote those words lightly today. A wonderful family trip was just about completed. Then, I had major, inconvenient, and costly car issues that I will be dealing with for a while. Worse, I caused them. The little small whim of a decision that caused the troubles seemed so inconsequential—until it wasn’t. I am not finding it easy to “not worry.” That is true even though what I am dealing with is nothing compared to what Habakkuk saw coming in his world nor to what Paul experienced in unjust jail sentences.

But that is Habakkuk and Paul; surely, Jesus won’t push me to be joyful and not worry right now. His yoke is light, right? Then I hear those all too familiar words.

Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today. (Matthew 6:31-34).

And, of course, Jesus is right. If I am going to insist on worrying, as 5 ads on the news this evening will tell me to, why waste all my energy worrying about what I am going to do about my car tomorrow, next week, or two weeks from now. If I must choose to worry, I should worry about the 10,000 things that could go wrong before I go to bed tonight. Many of those 10,000 things that could go wrong would be far worse than my car issues. 

God has been good. God is here now. Jesus is right. There is far more to life than food, clothes, or cars. (Jesus couldn’t add “cars” yet in Matthew 6:25, but he includes them now.) I have known people who have far more resources than I could ever even imagine who do not experience life with anything close to the joy that I do. Why?  Because of what God has done for me through Jesus and his people that makes life worth living. God reigns over life and history and that includes my broken car—which I did love. And, being with my family and friends is wonderful. No car comes close to matching that joy!

God, you do reign. Please keep me, keep each of us, open to receiving more and more of your shalom (peace) that passes understanding.

-Ron Simkins 10/6/26