The setting was our church’s small group on Sunday morning. The text was Philippians 4:4: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” The question was, “What does it mean to rejoice?”

“Good for the Soul, Bad for the Reputation”

I answered, “Well, yesterday was just rotten for me. I had a hard boring cleanup job to do and it turned out to be worse than I expected. I hit my head a couple of times. We got our lawn mower back from the shop and they hadn’t done the job right and didn’t seem to care. I was in a near-accident because someone crossed the double-yellow line. Michigan State lost its football game. And I was sour and grumpy the whole day long. I had to apologize to my wife this morning for ruining her day yesterday. That’s what rejoicing doesn’t look like.”

And I’ll bet you thought this was going to be an Inspiration column! Confession is good for the soul, they say, but bad for the reputation. Oh, well. I’ve shared my bad day twice now.

The Cheerless Reminder That Things Could Be Worse

One of my friends there brought up what his mom had always taught him: “Things could be worse,” and “I pitied myself for having no shoes until I met a man who had no feet.” I suppose that mindset could have helped me on Saturday. My day hadn’t gone that badly; I just let myself get annoyed by a series of little things.

There are times, though, when “things could be worse” isn’t good enough. Sometimes the pain and loss and misery are real, and they don’t shrink any smaller through the cheerless thought that someone else has even worse problems.

True Joy in the Lord

That’s when Paul’s answers in Philippians come to the rescue. There are lots of answers there, actually, and I wouldn’t dare try to mention them all. I’ll stick with the one I know I should have followed on Saturday. It’s almost immediately after the dual command to rejoice in Phil. 4:4:

“The Lord is at hand. Have no anxiety 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 passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:5b-7)

Maybe there are times when the best way to cheer up is to remember someone else has it worse. Far more often, though, I think it’s more comforting to remember the goodness and greatness of God in Jesus Christ. It’s better to pray, and to trust Him to supply our needs, including our need for peace of mind. That’s exactly what I didn’t do on Saturday.

Just Plain “Good for the Soul!”

I’m guessing you’ve had days like that, too. Here’s the great thing, though: Saturday ended, and then it was Sunday. I could have brought my bad mood to an end earlier in the day, if I’d remembered God’s goodness more quickly. I didn’t do that, but mercifully the day came to an end anyway. I woke up Sunday morning and the first thing I did was apologize to my wife. God showed His love and mercy through her, and she accepted my apology. We had a really terrific day together. I had a great day in other ways besides.

Confession is good for the soul, they say; and I think they should stop right there. It’s good, period. It was good for me to confess to my wife: it repaired a breach in our relationship. It was good for me to be real with my small group, since it allowed me to be real with them — and they were real with me, in return. It’s okay for me to share it here today, too; not that every sin needs to be aired in public, but it’s freeing not to have to pretend to be something I’m not.

God Is Good Enough Even For Grumpy Days

God knows about sour grumpy days. He has a better idea — it’s called rejoicing in Him, based on faith in His goodness. But He also has a way out, through being honest with Him and accepting His forgiveness through Jesus Christ.

What does it mean to rejoice? I’ve got a better answer today: It means drawing near to God with hope, with faith, and a smile — and with a touch of honest confession besides.