Be Joyful Always

"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

This past weekend I added a few things to the blog here. One being a series of subscription buttons. Maybe there's someone who could use that, so I thought it worth popping up there. The second thing I added was a Verse Of The Day widget from Bible Gateway. Every day that verse changes, so be sure to check it out. It may be just the thing you need to hear today.

That was the case for me this morning. I've been reading page after page in my Bible, and while it's all good stuff, nothing really jumped out at me to post about today. Then I popped on to read the verse of the day, and a post came to mind. Gotta love that. :-)

I've posted about this verse before. Be joyful always...Give thanks in all circumstances. Our small group was discussing this very thing a week or so ago. We were discussing debt, and how to best take care of it and why we have it and such. One person mentioned that we should perhaps be thankful for debt. Oh I was immediately in agreement with that. I am very thankful for the debt that we have. Because of our debt, I have a college education. Because of our debt, our daughter has a healthy smile. Because of our debt, we've been able to take care of some unexpected expenses the last few months. And because of debt, my husband is driving a safe vehicle to and from work everyday. All that debt obviously has to be repaid. And for that sometimes I am not so grateful. When I have to write that car payment check or pay a credit card bill, I am always mindful of how little is left. At the same time though, I am learning to be grateful for the ability to even write that check.

Be joyful always. This past Saturday we were at church doing some work when Andy discovered a burst pipe. This means that he has to spend his day off this coming week in the church basement doing some plumbing. Immediately I was angry, thinking about the waste of a perfectly good day. He could be spending that time playing with Zander, but instead he's going to be busy repairing some plumbing. Yet according to today's verse, I should be joyful about that instead. And I can find a reason to be joyful- it gives Andy an opportunity to work on God's House. And not only does he get to repair something that belongs to God, but he gets to fix it the right way. He gets to repair that pipe in the best way possible, and maybe along the way he'll make some improvements that will only make God's House better. I can be thankful that it wasn't an immediate need to repair it. He was able to wait until his day off instead of spending the weekend away from the kids doing an immediate repair.

Sometimes you do need to do some searching to find a reason to be joyful, and a reason to give thanks. But I promise that if you really pray on it, and ask God about it, he will help you to find joy in all situations. He will help you to be a Pollyanna and find the silver lining in every bad thing that comes along. That's how great a God we have- there is always a reason to be glad, and that is that we have a God who cares and loves us and wants us to be happy in him.