Rejoice.

First written February 19, 2015 by Corey Ponder

“I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship.” — Louisa May Alcott

As 2015 continues on its merry little way, I have found myself rejoicing in every possible thing. When I found myself rejoicing because I grabbed the last bag of cheddar and onion flavored chips one day at lunch, I had to take a pause to consider the source of this attitude and outlook.

As I thought about it, I realized joy has been the outgrowth of the journey that was 2014, a year with its share of ups and downs. And not exactly in the catchy, T-Pain, kind of way.

…I went to my first music festival…and second, third, fourth, and fifth.

…I was in a car accident.

…I was promoted at work.

…my condo sustained nearly $18,000 worth of water damage.

…I traveled to Puerto Rico for the first time.

…Someone broke into my car.

…I began a relationship…

…and then it ended.

…I found a new church home.

…I’ve been increasingly consumed with thoughts on purpose and career.

About the only thing I didn’t do in 2014 was save a lot of money by switching to GEICO.

If I could experience 2014 all over again, there would definitely be some experiences I would repeat….others — probably on the 32nd day of the 13th month of never. But the oscillation between happiness and disappointment, contentment and dissatisfaction, appreciation and frustration, really taught me to enjoy the bright moments and cherish them, because circumstances are fluid. They also prepared me to emerge from those less than ideal moments with a sweeter satisfaction for the better moments that lay ahead.

I also felt I never truly understood what it meant to “rejoice in all things” before 2014. I’ve heard this idea before many times, but had not truly internalized it. The idea that joy is not circumstantial or situational seems odd, but it is because I’ve assumed happiness and joy are synonymous.

It’s so much easier to appreciate and cling to moments in life that have gone positively or occurred the way I would have wished or prayed it. It’s far more difficult to rejoice in the midst of outcomes I don’t wish for or desire. It’s like expecting someone to give a touchdown dance after losing the Superbowl on the 1-yard line (dang Seahawks…you let me down).

But appreciating the good moments in life, such as in the example above, is happiness — it is a feeling, a reaction that is predicated on what our circumstance dictate.

During a bible study with a National Community Church small group, we surmised that joy is not a feeling, and it is not reactionary. It is a choice, and the important choice we make every day is our attitude in the midst of our circumstances. Joy happens despite your circumstances, not because of them.

What I realized is that, because circumstances are fluid, something needed to be resolute and unwavering. And for me, the choice to embrace joy despite my circumstances, has been my primary defense against the mercurial circumstances that life brings my way.

Happiness was purchasing a condo. Joy is appreciating the condo even when I am physically unable to live there.

Even while I have become more aware of the importance of choosing to live joyfully despite my circumstances — it sometimes was and still is hard to make the choice to do so. And when I have reached points where rejoicing in the midst of frustrations seemed pointless, God reminded me to rejoice because he had overcome it all, working through my family and friends to do so.

It has been the moments where friends show concern and care that has reinforced the idea that happiness is fleeting but joy is a choice that endures. When I was feeling completely displaced and disoriented without a place to stay, it had been God, working through friends, to show me I was already taken care of. As I tried to make sense of getting into an accident and having my car broken into within weeks of each other, it had been God, working through a friend, that provided me with an outlet to rediscover my joy that day.

And so, these moments remind me of the importance of joy, and as 2015 continues on, I am committing to rejoicing in every moment — even the ones that involve the last bag of cheddar and onion chips.

“Sometimes it takes the storms for us to appreciate the sunshine.” — Me