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Always? Continually? All?


Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

          What is God’s will for me? This job, or that? This spouse, or that spouse, or no spouse? Living in a place where it gets cold? Or Hot? Rejoice always? Pray continually? Give thanks in all circumstances? Does God have any idea how ridiculous a notion those last three are? I know of people who eat dirt because there is nothing else to eat? I know someone who grew up in a place that had rats in the walls. I have acquaintances who were abused as children. There are people who face death daily, not as a job but just as people. 
          I’m not one of those people, and I suppose I can rejoice and give thanks that I’m not, but that’s not what Scripture tells us. We have this notion that thankfulness and rejoicing are somehow connected to a quality of life, a quality that tends to be higher than the one we have and is orders of magnitude above what those poor folks face. 
         My first thought goes back to what Brother Lawrence said. I seem to be stuck on it. “I can do no better unless You help me, Lord.” I’ve had jobs that battered me emotionally. I can’t say I was grateful. How can we do better at rejoicing always, praying continually, and giving thanks in all circumstances?
          A woman named Corrie TenBoom was challenged with this passage as she faced sleeping in flea-infested straw in a German concentration camp. Over time, it became apparent that the guards didn't want to have fleas, so they didn't enter the area if they could avoid it. That gave Corrie the opportunity to read the Bible she'd smuggled in with her, not only for her own benefit, but for the benefit of the women around her. Read her story, with tissues handy. It's called The Hiding Place.
          Is there anything…anything good about the circumstances? It might sound ridiculous but consider the question. Those jobs that battered me emotionally also made it possible for me to pay bills. To some extent, the employer was willing to work around my schedule, which allowed me to do things I wanted to do. I learned things I didn’t know before. I made some friends.
          One of the things I hear from friends who have gone to places where the residents eat dirt because there’s nothing else to eat talk about how happy the people are in spite of their circumstances. They’re alive. They have an opportunity to try to do something to help their loved ones. For those of us who are Christians, we have God. We have the Spirit of the Living God with us, living in and through us. 
          I think many of us, perhaps most of us, tend to think that happiness and gratitude mean that we like things just the way they are, and wouldn’t step into something better if it were offered. But as we gaze at the horizon for that better life, we miss out on God standing with us.

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