“Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
This passage has always been near and dear to my heart. For years I would pray to God for His will in my life, then I would read this passage and totally miss it! These three simple verses pack so much in them, that if we apply them, it will change our life! Not maybe, it will! Let’s talk through it for a bit.
“Rejoice Always” or “Be Joyful Always!” This is where we need to talk about the difference between joy and happiness. So often today I hear the excuse, “I just wanted to be happy!” Or even “I deserve to be happy!” We confuse joy and happiness and they are not always interchangeable. It is like saying Love is an emotion and not a choice - but that is a topic for another day.
Happiness is an emotion that we feel when everything is going ‘great’. It is based on circumstances. Joy is based on something so much greater! The Bible reminds us that the Joy of the Lord is our strength! What does that mean? There is more to Joy than being happy! Joy comes with contentment. And contentment results from an understanding that what we have is from God, and we can be satisfied with that in whatever situation we are in. No matter the circumstance! Joy can bring happiness, but it is not based on it. We are told to have joy when we face trials! How can we do that? By finding ourselves in God! Then, when circumstances suck, we know we have One greater than the circumstance with us! We have a place secured in heaven! I can find Joy in that and it will give me strength through whatever comes my way!
Next is prayer! Prayer is such a powerful concept if we truly understand it. What would you say if I told you I had a special phone that was a direct line to the president? First, you’d probably say I was lying and you’d be right, because I don’t know him. But if I did actually have that direct line it would mean I would have the ability to call on the leader of the nation in my personal life.
Well, we have a direct line to the One who created the heavens and the earth and everything in them! And we take it for granted! That is what prayer is! We don’t appreciate the power of that direct line! Why not? Because we don’t understand the personal connection we have with God! God is awesome and powerful and just! But He is also Loving and merciful and gracious! He is the God of the universe, but He is also our Loving Father!
Now, if your friend became president would you just call him for favors? No, you would call him because he was your friend. But you would also respect him because he is the president after all. My conversation would probably be something like, “Dude, can’t believe you are the president! That’s awesome! You’re like the most powerful man in the US!”
Too often we start our prayers with telling God what He should do for us! That is not how it should be! We should be coming before Him in awe and reverence! Amazed at who He is and what He has done! But then also as a friend and Father, cause He is all those things! And how often are we to talk to Him? All the time!! The line is always open and His ear is always turned to hear your voice! Such an amazing concept! The God of the universe wants to hear from me!
Alright, the last part of this is the thankfulness aspect. This is so important! I won’t say more important, but it is the piece that is going to help us accomplish the other two! How many times do you complain? Don’t answer that, cause if you are anything like me, the answer is too many to count! We, as human beings, are complainers. I complained earlier today, over and over again. We do need to be able to vent out frustrations, that is different, but we always need to bring it back to a place of thankfulness.
Let’s take a look at what thankfulness does in our lives. Let’s make this fun and say someone punched me in the face and then took off. Ouch!! That hurt! I can’t believe they did that! Who was that and how am I going to find them! I need to punch them back! They deserve it! My face still hurts!
Now I have just written a paragraph about the problem I was facing and it seems so big! My whole focus was on that issue and it was all that consumed my mind! Now the problem is huge and I can’t see past it, because it took all my attention!
Now, if I got punched in the face and then that person took off I could also go a different route. Ouch, that hurt! I’m sure glad he didn’t have a bat. Maybe it was an accident. I wonder what he was going through that got him to this point. Look at all the other people here that didn’t punch me in the face. Could have been worse. I know I’ll be fine.
Now, that is me being a little silly, but I want to illustrate a point. When we focus on the issue it becomes all we can see. But if we step back and look at the full picture, we see that there is so much more going on.
We all have stories. There is always something negative going on in our lives. But we also have so many positives. What we focus on determines our outlook on life and how we view our world. So thankfulness is an important piece in living in Joy and talking to God.
And bottom line, if you don’t know the specific plan God has for you, you can obey these verses and know that you are in God's will! Be joyful! Pray all the time! And Be thankful in all circumstances!
