Listen

Rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks in every situation because this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Don’t suppress the Spirit. Don’t brush off Spirit-inspired messages, but examine everything carefully and hang on to what is good.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-21

Think

It would have been much easier for Paul to write “Rejoice often, pray regularly, and give thanks for the good things in life,” but that’s not what he wrote to the Thessalonians. He encouraged them to rejoice always, to pray continually, and to give thanks in every situation. We all know there are times when it’s really hard to rejoice or to give thanks to God.

Paul is not telling us that we have to be happy all the time and suppress any feelings of sadness, anxiety, or hurt. Joy is different than happiness. Happiness is a response to something happening, while joy is an attitude. Even when bad things happen—things that make us sad—we can be joyful if we remember that God is always with us.

God is shoulder-to-shoulder with us no matter what. God is so committed to being with us that God entered into our humanity in the person of Jesus Christ. This is the cause of our joy, in good times and in bad times.

Cody Maynus

Question to Ponder:

What reminds you that God is always with you?

Pray

God, thank you so much for being with me through it all.

Whenever things get bad, help me to remember that you are by my side.

Amen.

Go

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in faith so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13