Joyful, Prayerful, Thankful

Good Morning,

1 Thessalonians 5:12-18 (NIV)
Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

These verses are at the end of Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians. They constitute some final instructions for them to follow. There is much to learn here and much to think about and contemplate. A better word, I think, is ponder, yes, there is much to ponder here. However, the last of these verses are what seemed to stand out more to me today.

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

Could any words be more timely for us? Are there any words that could be of more importance at even THIS point in the history of the world? Yet, how difficult are they to heed and obey?

Many of us find ourselves at a point where it is difficult to be joyful. Prayer sometimes seems futile. Giving thanks is almost beyond comprehension for some. But, I would argue that these three things are exactly what we need, right now, right where we find ourselves, no matter how tough things might appear.

Joyful? Yes. We can be joyful that we have the Lord in our lives. We can be joyful that Jesus gave Himself for us and atoned for our sins. We can be joyful that we are able to come together and worship God. We can be truly and completely joyful for so many things, too many to even list here if we'll give a few moments to think about it. Family? Of course. Friends? Certainly. So very, very much.

Prayer? Oh, yes, we have to be in prayer. And, as Paul wrote, it should be continually. Our prayers should be for the true necessities in life and not for those inconsequential "things" that have seemed to become necessary. We need to pray for one another; our families; our friends; our congregations; our church leaders and the leaders of our land; for Godly wisdom in all of the decisions that are made which affect one and all. There is much that we need to be in prayer about. I believe that once we begin to pray for the true needs of all, then the desires that we have simply begin to fade into the background. When we find ourselves truly praying for the needs of others and the overall needs of all, then our own needs somehow seem to be met. God stuff, you know?

Be thankful? For many, this is the most difficult of all. Some of us have lost good jobs and cannot seem to find even meager employment. Some of us have children that have gone their own way, perhaps even a way that is antagonistic and against what we have tried to teach them. Too many people find themselves with marital challenges and marriages that are falling apart. People have lost homes. Times, in so many ways right now, are pretty tough for people. So, be thankful? Yes, but let's read carefully what Paul wrote.

First, what did he NOT write? Well, he didn't say "Be thankful FOR all circumstances." You see, that would be just about impossible, don't you think, when times and "circumstances" are giving us the worst of what can happen.

What he DID write? He said, "Be thankful IN all circumstances." That's really quite different a statement. We can be disheartened because of the difficult things going on in our lives, but we can still be thankful for what is either not so bad or even pretty good. Some have extreme financial difficulty that is no fault of their own. But they have a spouse who is still there in a loving marriage. Children strong of body and mind and spirit. Well, you get the idea. We could list any number of things that we need to be thankful for even in the worst of times. For everyone it's going to be different.

So, today...this very day, please...let's remember to be joyful in the Lord and all we have because of a loving and caring God. Let's remember to pray for the true necessities of life for ourselves and for all. Let's remember to be thankful even when our circumstances aren't so great for those things that we do have.

There is much in which we should be joyful; much that we can pray about; much that we can be thankful for.

Love, peace, and blessings,

David