BE JOYFUL, PRAYERFUL, AND THANKFUL
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NLT
[16] “Always be joyful. [17] Never stop praying. [18] Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”
Three stones in our foundation that should be cemented together to provide stability and strength.
These stones are all about attitude.
What is attitude?
Meta AI defines attitude as…
“… A person’s feelings, disposition, or mindset towards a particular situation, person, or thing. It encompasses their emotions, beliefs, and behaviors, influencing how they perceive and interact with the world around them.”
Attitudes can be positive, anticipating good outcomes… negative, pessimisticly expecting unpleasant situations…fixed, refusing to change for the better… or flexible, willing to view life from a different perspective.
Attitude is like the weather. When our circumstances are sunny and calm, we launch into our activities with a positive attitude…no wind or rain to curb our plans…no cloudy sky to cast a gloom over our outlook for the day. Stormy circumstances can easily change our mood to restlessness or insecurity.
Unlike the weather, we can choose the outlook, mood, and attitude that will influence our thoughts and actives for each day and each situation. Think of it this way. If we get out of bed already anticipating trouble for whatever reason, our mood will be sombre and our expectations coloured with thoughts of conflict, hurt, or whatever the circumstance might threaten to be.
What if, instead, we choose to be joyful, prayerful, and thankful despite any situation we may face. I listen to fellow believers speaking of “stress” when they see problems on the horizon that may never happen. Did Jesus offer His followers rest, only to be frustrated by the expected or unexpected situations we face each day?
First, be joyful. Joy is not dependent on our circumstances. Rather, our joy leans on our connection to a faithful, unchanging Father who is always with us, always in charge of our lives, and always working for our good in all our everyday circumstances. Paul counsels us to “rejoice IN THE LORD?” Joy is the solid, immovable stone under our feet based on our relationship with our heavenly Father. Tying our joy to anyone or anything else will eventually lead to anything other than joy.
Second, be prayerful. Jesus said, “Remain in me.” When our attitude is to stay connected to Jesus in all circumstances, we choose to let Him carry our burdens and straighten our path. Through constant communication, i.e., prayer, we choose to stay in touch with headquarters and get our directions from Him, not from the world around us or the mood within.
Third, be thankful. A thankful heart is a trusting heart. Why should our mood be sombre and our outlook gloomy when we have a Father who loves us unconditionally, knows us perfectly, and lives in us powerfully by His Spirit?
Paul asked a rhetorical question and answered it with a resounding and irrefutable declaration…
Romans 8:35, 37-39 NLT
[35] “Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?…
[37] No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. [38] And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. [39] No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Whatever catastrophes are on our horizon or lie in our pathway, we stand immovable and unshakable on God’s reliability and faithfulness. We can afford to be joyful, prayerful, and thankful, no…it is imperative that we are always joyful, prayerful, and thankful in all circumstances because there is no other way to overcome IN the situations that threaten to overwhelm and destroy us.
These attitudes are not automatic and they don’t come easy. We cultivate them by trial and error. We practise by choosing to be joyful in the Lord, prayerful, and thankful to the Lord in all circumstances because He is the buffer between us and everyday life’s ups and downs.
When you build these stones into your foundation, you will always be…
1 Corinthians 15:58 NLT
[58] “… strong and immovable… working enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.”