Advent Devotional: Day 23

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

I asked the question in Hope’s week, “What is driving your Hope—God or circumstances?  These three verses reveal God’s will for us regarding ALL circumstances.

Rejoice always in all circumstances, not just the good times. It is hard to rejoice when your spirit is troubled. But God desires this for us.  Why? Or Better yet How?  By rejoicing in the difficult times, we show others how to have faith in every season we face. But also, by rejoicing we take our eyes off the circumstances we are in and setting them on the Only One who can change them.

“Pray continually in all circumstances”, this is a heart shift. In the circumstances that cause us anxiety, we need to pray. My prayers become an “I can’t, but You can” kind of prayer. It shifts my heart and thoughts from my control to His control. It releases me from the responsibility of even trying to fix something that isn’t mine to fix. Worrying doesn’t fix anything, it doesn’t change the heart of another, the diagnosis, or resolve financial woes.  These are the “I can’t, but You can” moments that we should be praying continuously.

“Give thanks in all circumstances” is one of the harder ones of the three. Dealing with a diagnosis that is far from thankfulness is tough. But what if that diagnosis brings you closer to God? What if that same diagnosis brings others closer to God?  When we face that diagnosis with faith and show others where our faith is, then we can find thankfulness. Not for the illness, but the strength to show others our faith is not swayed by our circumstances.

These three verses became my life verses when I faced a diagnosis that could have changed my life and strengthened my faith.

How do you face those really tough circumstances?  Do they lead you?  Or does God?