Rejoice always...

 Philippians 4:4

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

This verse doesn't say rejoice when things go right or they go your way; but it says rejoice always! Meaning, regardless of the circumstances we go through, we must rejoice! One may ask how is that possible, and why should we rejoice when things are not going the way we planned? That's when we need to remember that we are not in control, but God is. And God doesn't do things to fit our program or plans or our emotions or preferences, but He executes His plans in our lives as He sees fit; whether that will make us sad, angry, disappointed etc., what remains is that He will allow His will to be done. I was reminded of this principle today, as I'm transitioning at work, where things are going in a different direction than I expected. But God reminded me that He may end some things so that there may be a new beginning. That we should not focus on the past, on what was, but look to the future, where He is taking us.

In practice, this is not easy, but when we remember that God is in control of everything (Psalm 24:1), and that He has our best interest at heart, that He has already promised us a future that is bright (Jeremiah 11:29), only then we start holding on to His word, to His promises and realizing that He is faithful. Also, when we look at Romans 8:28 that tells us that He works everything for our good. Meaning, even those closed doors, failures, mishaps, mistakes, disappointments, He works all of them together for our good. In fact, He uses those circumstances to have been our springboards to the next level. In the natural it doesn't make sense, which is why God doesn't ask us to figure it out, but to trust Him, to trust His process. It will make sense in the end.