Rejoice In The Lord…Always!

Philippians 4:4-7

“4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Rejoice in the Lord!

Always!

Wait…always? Really? Even when I’m in the middle of the changing a diaper and I get poop on my hands? Even when my little boy misses the big boy potty and hits the wall instead? Yes! Even then. Especially then.

These verses are written by the Apostle Paul from prison, shackled to a guard day and night. If we read between the lines, we can imagine he had no privacy. At all. Even when he was, ya know, doing his business. And yet, he was rejoicing. AND encouraging others to do the same (us moms included). What does that even mean? To rejoice means to feel great joy and delight, according to trusty ol’ Google. With this in mind, let me take you for a stroll down memory lane…

I was at the park with my two children while my husband worked late one evening a few weeks ago. I was baby wearing my precious 2-month-old while my toddler ran around kicking a ball. My babe got hungry, so I half unwrapped her and sat down on a bench to nurse her. After a few minutes, I heard the loud, unmistakable sound of a baby filling her diaper. Uh-oh. Almost all baby dirty diapers end up with leaking or exploding diapers for me. I don’t know if it’s me, the diapers, or my children, but I have a 95% success rate. I didn’t bring the diaper bag since the park is only a block away from my home.

I was afraid to look at the damage.

Without going into the sticky details, it was like my child was not even wearing a diaper. Her clothes, my clothes, my hands, the wrap she was being carried in – everywhere. As I tried to wrap her back up so that I could get us all home to clean up, it got on even more places – her sun hat, my arms, my toddler’s ball. I prayed silently that I would not pass anyone on the way home. I felt like crying in the moment, but I didn’t. My toddler was as happy as could be, running around in circles. My baby was happy, oblivious to painting herself yellow. We made it home safely and got cleaned up. And while I don’t pretend that this mommy challenge is anything like what Paul faced in prison, it is a challenge that should be met with rejoicing.

God created my wonderful children. He blessed me with the responsibility of being their mommy. And most importantly he died on the cross to save them from an eternal life without him. Their lives and mine, every messy detail and challenge, are covered in God’s love. And that is THE reason to rejoice. We need to shift our minds from our immediate and short term challenges to the long term heavenly rewards of being on Christ’s team. We’ll learn more about that tomorrow. Today, focus on rejoicing by praying over Psalm 33. Read it as many times as you need and talk about any challenges and thoughts you have about these verses with a trusted friend.

This is part of a series called The “Poop is everywhere” devotional. Click here to read more in the series. Messy Tired Love devotionals connect everyday mom moments to the truth of the gospel. Learn more here.