Be Joyful Always

So as I am sitting here waiting for my UGA miracle meeting to start, I started to think about some things. I came across this verse the other week and for some reason, I have not been able to get it out of my head.

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

I think the reason I have been so stuck on this verse is that it is almost the opposite of everything that I am. I tend to focus more on the negative things in life, than the positive. If I were to just pick out one good thing from my day, everyday, I feel like my happiness would be so much greater. In the world we live in today, it is so much easier to find the negative things throughout your day and focus on them for the rest of the day. I mean just watch the news…it is all negative. For example, today I got on the wrong bus to go to class (second semester...I know, its embarrassing) and I was late for English. For some reason, it completely affected my mood for the rest of the day and I really shouldn’t have let that one little thing affect me in such a way. I just think about if I had done the opposite, let one good little thing affect the rest of my day. I would be filled with joy and be in such a good mood. And you never know whom your good mood will affect.

“Pray continually.” I definitely have an issue with this part. I tend to do everything I can before I reach for prayer and it should be the complete opposite. I should first be praying and asking God to give me strength to deal with whatever situation I am currently facing. I think that for me, and probably for a lot of other people, it is hard for the first thing you do in a crisis is pray because that is not a tangible thing. Although I know that God will answer whatever my prayer is in His own time, I get impatient and want to see results right away. One way that I have found helps me with this issue is keeping a prayer journal. For all my prayers, whether big or small, I write them down. When they are answered, I try my best to go back and circle them and write the date that they were answered next to it.

“Give thanks in all circumstances.” This is definitely the hardest thing for me to do. I mean, when something bad happens to you, it is very rare for the first thing to cross your mind is giving thanks to God. In the situation, especially right when it happens, it is hard to give thanks when you think that everything that is happening is bad. However, I have learned that saying thank you to God in every situation suddenly gives me a sense of confidence in whatever situation I am going through.

I hope that this verse has an impact on you, no matter what situation you may be going through. Have a blessed week!