Finding Joy || 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 || Manna for the Mind #209

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

NASB	NLT	VOICE
16 Rejoice always,	16 Always be joyful.	16 Celebrate always,
17 pray without ceasing,	17 Never stop praying.	17 pray constantly,
18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.	18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.	18 give thanks to God no matter what circumstances you find yourself in. (This is God’s will for all of you in Jesus the Anointed)

Our joy, prayers, and thankfulness should never waiver with what’s going on in life or our current emotional state. It may become difficult to do, and therefore we’ll allow them to fall away to find areas of comfort ourselves. Obeying these three commands: be joyful, never stop praying, and be thankful – often goes against our natural inclinations. Let’s be real: when you receive hard news, are you joyful? When things are going well, are you praying? When something bad happens, are you thankful? Most likely, the answer is no. It goes against what we’re taught to be thankful in ALL things, good and bad. It goes against our inner nature to ALWAYS remain joyous. When we make the conscious choice to do what God says, we’ll start seeing people and life in a new perspective. With it, we will have an easier time being joyful and thankful.

God wants us to never stop praying. Spending each second of our life on our knees would be impossible, but we always keep a prayer mindset and attitude. How? By acknowledging our dependance on God, realizing his presence within us, and determining to obey him fully. When acknowledge that we cannot do life without God’s guidance, intervention, and strength, we are releasing the control of life to him and allowing ourselves to the vessels in life that he created us to be. When realize that the Holy Spirit in inside of us, we can start to lean towards that in regard to what we say and do and to check in with them to make sure our acts align with God.  These first two steps allow God to take over our bodies and allow us to be able to follow through on whatever he needs us to do. We’ll find it natural by this point to pray frequent, spontaneous, short prayers. Regular times of prayer will lead to God’s transforming power in our lives. It doesn’t have to be scheduled or regimented. It just needs to be some intentional, in-the-moment, acts of prayer that allow you to talk to God distraction free.

Paul said that we should never stop praying. God always hears us and always answer our prayers. Remember this too: a “no” is still an answer. He is sovereign (powerful) and has a plan, and often that plan is to wait. Wait and let time takes its course. God directs the passage of time, so we should allow God to work his will into our world and into our life. Prayer and patience humble us before God and teaches us to rely on his plan instead of our own.

Paul wasn’t teaching us that we should thank God FOR everything that happens to us, but IN everything that happens to us. We don’t thank God that we received a cancer diagnosis. We thank God for the strength he’s given us while we process and move ahead from the diagnosis. (I know that was an extreme example, but you get my point.) Evil does not come from God, so we should not thank him for it. (I want to pivot for a brief second and say “But why does God allow evil then?” Personally, I believe it’s so we can understand God’s goodness. If there was just goodness, how would we know when something goes wrong? God control’s how much evil he allows (see the story of Job for a deeper explanation), but unfortunately the evil spirits of the work have taken this and ran. So, we must work with God to create the harmony again and allow it to exist without it existing in humanity.)

Philippians 4:4

NASB	NLT	VOICE
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!	4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again – rejoice!	4 Most of all, friends, always rejoice in the Lord! I never tire of saying it: Rejoice!

Our outward circumstances do not need to dictate our inner attitudes. Paul was fully joyous because he knew that no matter what happened to him, Jesus was with him. You can see this in all of Paul’s writing and in his ministry taught in the book of Acts. Several times, Paul urges the church in Philippi to be joyful. It’s easy to get discouraged because of unpleasant circumstances or to take unimportant events too seriously. This is not said to discredit your own feelings. Your responses to the events around you are valid, but it’s how we respond to those responses that we’re focusing on. We can lash out at something, but do we connect back to a place of gratitude. We can grieve over something, but do we connect to a path of thankfulness. This is the point that Paul is talking about here.

Ephesians 5:20

NASB	NLT	VOICE
20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to our God and Father;	20 And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.	20 and to give thanks to God the Father every day through the name of our Lord Jesus the Anointed for all he has done.

When you feel like life has worn you down, you may find it difficult to give thanks. We should take heart in all things. We must remember that God works for our good. God does not create the evil and chaos that we may run into in our lives. Often these are a response of the fallen world we live in, behaviors from other people, or just unfortunate circumstances. God is on our side. To receive the fullness of what he has to offer, we need to be in an intentionally committed relationship with him, following what he says and does. Like with any relationship, you often receive what you put into it.

We need to thank God. Not for the problems we have or the chaos we’ve been through, for this line of thinking leads us down a path of toxic positivity. Thank him for the strength to get through these difficult moments, building up the strength needed to overcome anything and everything we come across. At first, this will feel forced and fake. Thanking him for being strong in moments we wanted to avoid is not a common practice but believe this. The more you do this, the more it’ll become easier. God’s perfect love will get you through anything.

Next slice of manna; Manna for the Mind #210