Joy in All Circumstance
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ -๐จ๐ฃ
โข What is the most peaceful image youโve ever seen? Tell us what you saw and why it brought you so much peace.
โข When was the last time you rejoiced over something? What happened and what did you do to express your joy?
โข Who would you consider as a role model for strength? Why?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฆ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ธ๐ข๐บ๐ด; ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ข๐บ, ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ. ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฐ:๐ฐ
Despite his circumstances, Paulโs letter to the Philippians overflows with joy. We can see that his joy was neither anchored on his external situations nor on his internal ability to stay positive. Rather, Paul rejoiced because he knew that God was in control. To rejoice in the Lord means more than finding joy in Him. It means finding joy again, over and over. In this lesson, we will look at why we can rejoice in all circumstances, according to the apostle Paul.
๐ญ. ๐๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐, ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ถ๐ฑ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ป๐
๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐.
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฑ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐จ๐ถ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด. ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฐ:๐ณ
As believers, we can experience the peace of God. Because of Christโs sacrifice, we have been reconciled to God and placed in a position to receive His favor. Itโs easy to be at peace when everything around us is calm and quiet. But the peace we have in Christ surpasses all understanding. Paul assures us that even in the midst of trials and chaos, Godโs peace will guard our hearts and minds. We can trust God and be completely confident that He is in our midst, working to bring everything together for our good. Because of this, we can rejoice no matter our situations. How have you experienced the peace of God recently? How did His peace guard your heart and mind?
๐ฎ. ๐๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐, ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ.
๐๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต. ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ค๐ช๐ณ๐ค๐ถ๐ฎ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ง๐ข๐ค๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ข๐ฃ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฐ:๐ญ๐ญโ๐ญ๐ฎ
Paul knew what it was like to be in need. But all the difficulties he experienced only served to teach him to be content. Contentment was not automatic for Paul. It was something he learned as God allowed him to experience both abundance and lack. In the same way, as believers, we can choose to be content wherever God takes us and with whatever He brings into our lives. Our joy comes not from our earthly possessions or anything weโve gained in this life but from God who provides all our needs. What does Matthew 6:26 say about God as a provider? How does this truth enable you to be content in Him?
๐ฏ. ๐๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐, ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐๐ต ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ.
๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฆ. ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฐ:๐ญ๐ฏ
God did not promise Paul a trouble-free life. On the contrary, Paul faced much trouble throughout his lifetime. But he was able to rejoice in the midst of it all, because he knew that God was the source of his strength. Because of that, Paul was confident that he could overcome all these. In the same way, we can have joy despite our troubles, because we know that we can experience Godโs power in the midst of it. Our joy comes not from believing that God can solve our problems but from the fact that we get to know God more and experience His reality in our lives as we go through our trials. When was the last time you experienced the power of God in your life? How did this experience make you feel, and how did it affect the way you pursue God?
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข Look for two or three Bible verses that talk about the peace of God. Write them down and memorize them this week. Declare them by faith whenever you feel anxious.
โข Would you say youโre content in Christ, in spite of your current situation? What can you do to grow in contentment every day?
โข Who can you encourage this week to have joy in all circumstances? What are you willing to do to help him or her rejoice in the Lord always?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for His peace that is based on who He is, not our circumstances. Thank Him for guarding your heart and mind and giving you joy as you pursue Him.
โข Ask God for grace to be content in any situation. Pray that your joy will always be anchored on who He is and not what you have.
โข Pray for those you know who are going through a difficult time this week. Pray that they will not only have the grace to rejoice in the midst of the situation but that they would draw even closer to God.