“Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.” (Philippians 2:17)
A sub-title for the epistle to the Philippians could well be, “Rejoicing in Trials.” In the 104 verses in this epistle, some form of the word, “joy,” is used sixteen times. That’s once in every 6.5 verses. Paul is rejoicing in his imprisonment and is calling on the Church at Philippi to rejoice in their trials.
One of my friends who had a long bout with cancer, when he would be asked, “How are you doing today?” responded by saying, “I’m too blessed to be stressed.” That response is much better than, “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen.” James, the half brother of Jesus, wrote, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations (trials); knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.” (James 1:2-3) Also read I Peter 1:6-7 and I Peter 2:19-24.
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