Stuck in the Right Place

As I sit at my computer this morning, I can’t stop thinking about the many challenges my friends face. A woman in Montana is helping a relative endure intense chemotherapy. A teenager nervously antic­ipates a new school. Some friends are worried about their children. Another is waking up from surgery. Many are going off to stressful work environments or searching in vain for any work at all. Others face legal battles or drawn-out medical treatments. And then there are the “ordinary” challenges: how to be a better friend, how to be kinder to a spouse, how to juggle competing time demands. You know what I’m talking about, don’t you! 

How would God tell us to begin a day like this? His answer may seem more difficult than our circum­stances! His Word in 1 Thessalonians tells us:

Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances…

Is God kidding? His will is that we be joyful, pray, and give thanks? Are you shaking your head in disbelief, finding it hard to be the tiniest bit joyful? Does it seem impossible to offer even a syllable of thanks? Then I suppose you are stuck. 

But wait a minute: That’s not a bad place to be. In fact, that’s a great place to be. According to these verses, when you are stuck between joy and thanksgiving, it means you are praying, and that means you are right in the middle of God’s will. See the progression: Be joyful, never stop praying, be thankful. 

On a day like today, when we’re burdened with the weight of life’s challenges, prayer is a tremendous gift. Who can anticipate how a day’s worth of prayer might alter the saddest of circumstances? Prayer changes things. Can that thought alone bring you a smidgen of joy? Can it make you thankful? You’ll never know until you try. So grab that pen and pour your heart out to God in your journal. Let Him know about your friends who need burdens lifted today. Let Him know about the burdens you carry this day. 

Wait. What’s that? Could it be joy?