Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
We are told to rejoice always in 1 Thessalonians 5:16. But in reality, that can be very tough depending on the circumstances of life How do we stay joyful when our lives are a mess or we’re in the middle of a seemingly impossible situation? We need to remember the source of our joy – God and God alone. There is no one or nothing that can snatch our joy away from us! That itself is a reason to rejoice!
But notice was comes in the next verses – pray continually and give thanks in all circumstances. We are to be people of prayer, in all thing and in all time and in all circumstances. When things are going well we should be prayerful and thankful people. When things are going less than stellar we are to be prayerful and thankful people.
Hold on to God in all times, but especially when things are not so stellar. God is our source of life – God is enough. We do not need to look for any other source of joy, peace, comfort, compassion, or love. God can satisfy all our needs.
Joyful together on the journey,
Pastor Todd