Thanksgiving

Rejoice always;

pray without ceasing;

in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

I, and hopefully many other Christians, spend a lot of time praying for the will of God to be done on earth (as it is in heaven). I also often think (wrongfully so) of the "will of God" as this magic mirror that only God knows and we're just always supposed to be surprised while we just watch everything unravel. However, the Bible says clearly in 1 Thessalonians that the will of God for those of us who are in Christ Jesus is to: 1) Rejoice always, 2) Pray without ceasing and 3) in everything give thanks. This is amazing! I KNOW that this is the will of God for me to do these things! When do I start? I know my reaction to this verse sometimes is "that's impossible", "we can't really do that", or "God doesn't really expect that out of us"... but He does! (Or it wouldn't be in His Word) So now that I know that this is the will of God for me and He really does expect me to do it, what does it look like in my life?

1) Rejoice Always

I looked up "rejoice" in a thesaurus and here is some of the synonyms: be happy, be pleased, be glad, be delighted, be elated, be ecstatic, be euphoric, be overjoyed, be as pleased as punch, be jubilant, be in raptures, be beside oneself with joy, be delirious, be thrilled, celebrate, and make merry.

I think my favorite was to "be as pleased as punch" :) I know the way that I would achieve this constant euphoric and delighted state would be to keep my eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-3). If at any time I find myself unhappy or less than thrilled, I should be able to think about Jesus, dying for my sins and rising 3 days later, conquering sin and death, so that I may live with Him in eternity! And I didn't even ask for it! When I think about the forgiveness of God and how great it is, when I was running after the world, and I wasn't apologizing to God (or even thinking about Him) BUT He decided to forgive me, He wanted and did forgive me before I even repented! This is glorious-how could I not be delirious with joy over that great news?!

2) Pray without ceasing

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. Philippians 4:6-7

This is hard for me. Really hard. I hate being anxious and I do want to trust Jesus with everything, from the small stuff to the seems-to-be-impossible-stuff and especially the amazing stuff. I don't want prayer to be a practice I do to "ask for stuff". So, when something good happens in my life, I want to run to Jesus first and say "thank you! I know that you are in control of all things and you have made this happen! Thanks!" Or when I have to make a decision, I don't want my initial reaction to be to call my husband or best friend, I want it to be to go to God and His Word and ask Him what He wants me to do. Pray without ceasing to me, looks like having God on my #1 speed dial in all situations, good and bad, at all times. 

3) In everything give thanks

Now this is the one that can be really out there, in everything? Really? Even that thing that I get really annoyed with? YES! In light of the 2 other commands: rejoice always and pray without ceasing. It should be pretty clear that I deserve nothing, I was born a sinner and anything that I have now is by the grace of God! And yes I am thankful for a God who hears my every prayer. I also know that God's Word says,  we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 So I want to always be thankful to God because He is working for my good, even though I do not always see it that way and I do not understand why at the given time, His ways are always better than mine and I could not ever dream up all the goodness He has for me. 

 It is a sweet privilege to know the will of God and to do it :) (completely imperfectly, completed accepted)

Praising Him because He is Worthy!