Day 31 - Friday, March 15
Title:  A THEOLOGY OF TRUE HAPPINESS
Scripture #1: 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 (NKJV)
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Scripture #2: Philippians 4:4–9 (NKJV)
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, 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 minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

Poetry & Poet: 
“Peace”
by Malcolm Guite

Not as the world gives, not the victor’s peace,
Not to be fought for, hard-won, or achieved,
Just grace and mercy, gratefully received:
An undeserved and unforeseen release,
As the cold chains of memory and wrath
Fall from our hearts before we are aware,
Their rusty locks all picked by patient prayer,
Till closed doors open, and we see a path
Descending from a source we cannot see;
A path that must be taken, hand in hand,
Only by those, forgiving and forgiven,
Who see their saviour in their enemy.
So reach for me. We’ll cross our broken land,
And make each other bridges back to Heaven.

THE LORD IS AT HAND: REJOICE!

What catches our gaze often shapes our life. 

Scott Hutchison’s artwork ably evokes a crucial conversation: By what or whom is our life ‘spellbound’? Notice the upward gaze of the man in the painting. Consider the man’s arms. In one sense, they connote a praying posture. In another sense, how might they also portray the idea of being upheld and enfolded?

What, if anything, holds your complete attention? Our attention and intention can become easily splintered and fragmented by an assortment of pushes-and-pulls. Busyness. Communication technologies. Competing claims on our life. Fitting into some other human’s expectations for how “your life should be.”

Our attention is rarely just on ‘one thing’ at any given moment. Parents know this fact of life all too well. So do cats, especially those hyper-vigilant ones that attend to any sudden sight, sound, or movement. We are not made to live as though we are hyper-vigilant cats, yet we may often treat each other that way.

Who or what is worthy of our complete attention? That question becomes the basis for long-standing practices among Christians. 

Contemplation is the practice of being apprehended; beholding, without a sense of utility or ‘usefulness’. Dwelling as a good, not as a commodity to be transacted. 

We can experience degrees of contemplation before great works of art. But not every work of art––or attention-grabbing resonance––is worthy of our contemplation nor is an adequate basis for our dwelling.

We become malformed when mostly everything entering our life ends up becoming “worthy of our attention.” That’s a life full of noisy noise; a life that tosses and turns by whatever pushes it along. For attention shapes devotion.

Paul focuses our intention by centering our attention on Jesus. His “meditate on these things” wisdom-instruction in Philippians 4:4-8 is part of a very long history of practices designed to “set your mind” (Colossians 3) or “fix your eyes” on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2) and on His life ‘from above’ that is full of glory.

With our attention, we often give and receive personal presence. It’s a reliable basis for caring for something or someone. Put differently, have you ever tried to genuinely care for someone inattentively? That’s neither genuine care nor capable of giving presence as a gift. Indifference. Apathy. Disregard. Dismissal. Those manifest in a life inattentively lived.

So, what do you actually care about that is worthy of your attention? How does that compare to the glory of Jesus? In the presence of Jesus, what is unworthy of your care and attention?

“The Lord is at hand.” Paul declares the central fact of human existence. Living out of that truth is the basis for human flourishing. Do I know that to be true? Do I even believe it?

Have you ever tried to escape from your hands?! They are ever here and near. So is the Lord, intimately so.

If I actually believe that the Lord is at hand, how should that glorious fact shape my thinking, my deciding, my loving, my working, my feeling, my relating, my sleeping, my coming, my going . . . my living? Welcome to the life-long school of Jesus!

The Lord is at hand is designed to shape the horizon of our thinking and living. New possibilities emerge because of that fact. Different ways of thinking and deciding become realizable. 

In the presence of the Glorious One, I no longer find it compelling to lean on my own understanding to uphold me. I lay down my smarts and self-justifications. I surrender my claims of “what is reasonable” for God to be or do.

Reverence and rejoicing is the sound that comes forth from a life lived out of the superabundance of the Lord is at hand. How can we not live in reverence and awe if we have been apprehended by the reality of the Lord of Glory? How can we not rejoice? 

‘Rejoicing’ is far more than a happy song or a mood or a feeling and pleasure of elation; nor is it about obtaining maximum positivity. Instead, it is active participation in joy. “Joy,” Dallas Willard liked to say, “is a pervasive, constant, and unending sense of well-being.” The voice of joy declares “I am well” even in the midst of suffering and disappointment, for the Lord is at hand.

Rejoicing is the vocabulary of “the-Lord-is-my-shepherd”; learning to live a life that is without lack. Rejoicing is a mark of a genuinely contentful life, not a life seeking to control others or circumstances.

Rejoicing does not flow from the self-sufficiency of my vision or my idea of peace, righteousness, hope, but from Him who is gloriously at hand.

Rejoicing in the Lord who is at hand “turns the world upside down” because it is rooted in the goodness of God, not humanity’s attempts at goodness and peace.

With Malcolm Guite:

Not as the world gives, not the victor’s peace,
Not to be fought for, hard-won, or achieved,
Just grace and mercy, gratefully received:
An undeserved and unforeseen release . . .

Indeed, With Aled Jones, “How can I keep from singing?” given the goodness of God. Doxology is inevitable in the presence of the Greatly Glorious King.

Rejoicing in the Lord resists ‘the powers.’ It contests the powers of contempt, cynicism, and a critical spirit toward God, myself, and my neighbor, even ‘my enemy.’

Royally rejoicing in the Lord has the power to create something new on the earth; resetting one’s thinking and doing. It carries a “longing for a hopeful future,” as it did for Scott Hutchison’s “Spellbound,” etched out of the heartache of 2021.

Rejoicing in the Lord looks like Paul penning his words to the Philippians  . . . from prison! It looks like a readiness to go with Jesus, as it did for Simon after the superabundance of God wrecked his fishing ventures (Luke 5:1-11). It looks like Mary at the feet of Jesus, “actively listening to His word” (Luke 10:38-42). It looks like Paul and Silas singing in prison (Acts 16:25-26).

Attending to Paul’s words––rejoicing, gentleness, non-anxiousness, praying and petitioning, thanksgiving––will help us form a mindset and a set of practices that are attention-forming and attention-giving.

Prayer:
May peace, joy, hope, and love mark what your mind dwells on this day as you learn to trust in the Lord, rejoicing in the superabundance of His nearness with you as you work and lead others. 

Joseph E. Gorra
Writer and Educator
Biola Alum

For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab.