Always be Joyful.. Pray without Ceasing... Give thanks

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18: "“Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

Is it okay if I tell you a little secret?  Ok, maybe it's not a secret, but I'm betting you can relate.

Right now, I'm sitting next to a 10 year old with ketchup stains on his favorite shirt. I'm trying to persuade him to finish his math homework, so we can study for science, and then head to church.  I have a little bit of a headache, and he is singing his own tune (you know the song... I bet your kids sing one kind of similiar.  Where everything that comes out of their mouth is in song form? Really loud?  Like at the top of their lungs.  Kind of like this: 4 times 6 iiiiiiiisssssss tweeeeeenttty four... or is it?  Mom, what is the answer?  Woooahhh...)

You get the point.  And it's Wednesday, the middle of the week, and it's turned winter out again.  The sky is gray out and it just feels heavy, and I'd like to do nothing more than pull the covers over my head and hide.  Or be on a beach somewhere, smelling like suntan lotion with my toes digging into the hot sand, while the ocean waves run over them.  Ahh...

It's easy to be joyful when I'm at the beach.  And I'm also thankful when I'm on the beach.  I pray a lot there, too, because for some reason the ocean makes me feel really close to God. There's something about the magnitude of those waves hitting all that sand that makes me realize just how big God is.. and how small I am.

But here's my secret.  I'm not really joyful sitting here right now.  I'm actually kind of crabby, because I've said the same thing over.  and over.  and over.  And he's still singing those same numbers, over and over.

However, if you read that verse, it gives us a little bit of control. I don't always have control  over my circumstances.  Sometimes I don't even feel like I have control over this very strong-willed young man, which is kind of scary.  He is independent, and argumentative, and sometimes I don't know how to respond.

So I respond in the flesh. Yelling. Threatening.  Getting angry. Frustrating him...

And then I look at this verse. When I don't have control over my circumstances, I have control over my reactions.  And I can CHOOSE to be joyful. Always be joyful.  When my head is pounding and I'm tired and don't know how I can pull joy off, I can choose... because His power is in me. 

Jesus sang "This is the day that the Lord has made.  I will rejoice and be glad in it" after the Passover Supper... knowing He was headed to His death.  He still chose joy.

Praying about everything opens up the way to joy... because if we pray and turn it over to God, then we don't have to worry about it anymore.  We will, because that's just how we are, but we don't have to.  We don't have to dwell on it.  We can choose joy.

And then thanksgiving comes, in every circumstance, because we realize that God is good even when our situation is not.  We realize that others have things worse than we do, or even if they don't, there is going to be a reward. Suffering today will be worth the joy we will have in the future. 

So today, despite my headache, despite the nasty weather, I give in and start singing. "I knew math was trouble when I opened the book... shame on me and... OH, Trouble, trouble, trouble..." Because everybody knows that a little Taylor Swift makes you feel better.  And he won't always want me to be a part of his duet. And I've learned a little from last week's lesson in Let. It. Go., about biting my tongue. What's even better than biting your tongue? Joining in =)

And when I'm not feeling joyful, or thankful, He understands... and His grace is sufficient to help me change my outlook.