The Verse of the Day: Joy, Prayer, Thanks

"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 verse, if fact, was actually not a part of my daily Bible reading suprisingly. It was a part of a daily devotional I signed up to recieve by email. It caught my attention because of something that happened in my life today:

During lunch, a guy (let's call him Eugene) had his bookbag stolen. Eugene is one of my friends, I first met him on the bus on the first day of school. When I found out, by being told by someone else, that his bookbag had been stolen, I was utterly shocked. The first thought that entered my mind was "How?" It just did not make sense to me, at all. How does your bookbag get stolen when it's right next to you? Well, I said a quick prayer about Eugene finding his bookbag and returned to talking with some of my friends. About ten minutes later, the same person told me that Eugene had finally found his bookbag in the trash can of the restroom. I was immediatly relieved, but then was told that his expensive graphing calculator was missing from his bookbag. I was shocked again.

Being in his next class, I was "privledged" to witness some of his first reactions. We did a lab, and I felt nudged (not physically, but spiritually, by God) to sit at his table. I did, and I'm glad I did too. I was able to offer some comfort, and by the end of class he was smiling again. I quoted a verse for him, one of my favorite actually, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

He rode the bus, but unfortunately others on the bus started laughing and making fun of the situation when he told them about it. I tried to intervene, but am not sure that I accomplished anything. The reason that that verse caught my eye while reading the email devotionals is because I wish now that I would have told Eugene that verse too. I have it memorized, and I believe it could have helped. Maybe I'll remember tomorrow.

Ok, closing statements, because this post is getting a little long. "Be joyful always." That statement sounds at least for me almost impossible. Always joyful? It's like "No way!" But, then again, happiness and joyfulness are not the same thing. Happiness is based on the circumstance. Joy is based on the knowledge that there is a Heaven and that we as Christians will be there someday.

"Pray continually." That's pretty hard too, though for me prayer often does seem easier than being joyful. Continually? That's all the time! I know I certainly don't do that, but I've realized that the more I pray during the day, the better my day is and the more happy I am with my circumstances. I also realize that as I pray more, it becomes easier and easier to pray just a little more each day.

"Give thanks in all circumstances." Wow. Thanks in everything? This is also difficult. What is there to be thankful for with losing a calculator? Well, I remember telling Eugene to look at the bright side, and he responds with a smile, "At least I'm still alive!" But I guess there's more than that. Maybe in losing a calculator, you can be thankful for the time that you did have the calculator, or even be thankful that you ever had enough money to own a calculator.

"For this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." So, it's God's will for us to be joyful, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances. It's because he knows the outcome of this. He knows our lives will be better overall. He knows everything. God is good all the time, and all the time God is good.

†God Bless†
Bria