What I read felt totally outlandish. How could it be true? A good friend has a mass on their chest. They go in for a biopsy on Thursday. A marriage is in trouble. A job was lost. Relationships are broken. A long-time friend died of a brain tumor. Loved ones are sick. People are in deep emotional pain.
Considering things like this, what I read seems impossible. And it isn’t even a suggestion. It is a command.
Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus (I Thessalonians 5:16-18 NLT).
Be thankful in all circumstances?
I do believe God is for me and that His indwelling Spirit enables me to carry out what He commands. But to always be grateful is hard to imagine. How can it be?
How is it Possible to always be Grateful?
To be truly grateful in everything, I must pull my perspective away from my circumstances. I must realize that God has something far richer in mind for me than an easy, comfortable life.
From God’s word, here’s what I know:
I was created with deep longings which can only be satisfied by God Himself.[1]
Delighting in God, enjoying Him, loving Him, and praising Him, satisfies these deep longings. [2]
Pursuing things of this world to satisfy my soul leave me empty and headed for destruction.[3]
God uses all things for my greater benefit, according to His purposes, not mine.[4]
Above all things, God is at work to make me more and more like Jesus.[5]
Following Jesus means His character being formed in me, not by my efforts, but by dependence upon His Spirit within me.[6]
In Jesus’ endurance of the cross, He remained fixed upon God’s greater purposes, even during excruciating pain.
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:1-2 NASB).
On the cross, Jesus had Joy.
Relational Joy.
Fueled by His love for His Father and for us, joy strengthened Jesus through unbearable pain.
No matter what else is going on in our lives, the fact that Jesus, Lord of Lord and King of Kings, values us enough to lay down His life for our relationship with Him, should fill our hearts with overflowing gratitude. And gratitude draws us near to God, the source of all Joy.[7]
Gratitude, the Gateway to Relational Joy
If I’m bemoaning my circumstances, the eternal overshadowing joy of the Lord can never be experienced.
If I’m only measuring how I’m doing by how my life is going, I’ll tend to be ungrateful, and joy will be killed.
God is not absent from my pain. In fact, if I call upon Him, my Ever-Present Help in Trouble [8], His peaceful nearness cleanses and heals deep parts of my heart, untapped when circumstances are easy.
From personal experience, I’m fortified in my troubles when I turn to God for comfort and not the false affections of the world.
Our gratitude for the gifts God gives us, especially everlasting life with Him, invites our soul to develop a posture of thanksgiving. God is good and God is for us. The more we see this, and point everything back to Him in glorious thanksgiving and praise, joy will grow and spill over into rejoicing, come what may.
Practice It
Think about a present trouble in your life. It could be related to health, finances, relationships, busyness, or any number of difficulties in this broken world.
In the midst our very hard times, God invites us to call on Him as our Comforter in all we face.[9] He is for us. He is near to our broken hearts.[10]
As you receive the comfort of His nearness, thank Him. Thank Him for being with you and for the price He paid for your reconciliation. Realize that especially in your trials, He’s always at work to make you more and more like Jesus.
Ask Him to bring other things to your mind to be grateful for. Develop a habit of giving all thanks and glory to God.
As did Corrie Ten Boom, present all praise from others as fragrant offers back to God.
When people come up and give me a compliment… I take each remark as if it were a flower. At the end of the day I lift up the bouquet of flowers I have gathered throughout the day and say, ‘Here you are, Lord, it is all Yours.’” Corrie Ten Boom
Prayer
Lord, I’m sorry that I haven’t developed a regular rhythm of thanking You for everything in my life. The more I walk with you, the more I’m convinced that you are for me and that You are at work in every aspect of my life. Please help me thank you for the pleasant times and the heart aches.
Teach me to linger and savor Your life all around. Slow me down to pause and thank You at every turn.
Thank You for the way joy is unleashed when I have a heart of gratitude. When I’m thankful, the joy of my relationship with You explodes in my soul.
Please keep me focused on loving You, thanking You, and loving those You bring my way.
Amen.
[1] Ecclesiastes 3:11
[2] Psalm 37:4
[3] I Timothy 6:9, Matthew 6:19
[4] Romans 8:28
[5] Romans 8:29
[6] Galatians 4:19, Galatians 2:20
[7] Psalm 16:11
[8] Psalm 46:1-3
[9] II Corinthians 1:3-5
[10] Psalm 34:18
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Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures.
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