I have recently been meditating on the phrase pray always. As I reflected this led me to reading the Bible and praying about what God meant by the words from 1 Thessalonians 5: 16 – 18. “Rejoice Always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” Rejoice means to feel or show great joy or delight. The first Service Trip I ever attend was to Nazareth Farm in West Virginia. After arriving, we headed out on a hike up the mountain. I did not know we would be hiking that first day and it was not an easy hike plus there were tons of stranger. We all quickly learned that strangers are just friends we haven’t met yet. As we reached the top of the mountain, we read scripture together and sat in God’s beauty for a while before heading back down the mountain to begin our service to those in need within the valley. Throughout the week, I experienced joy while on the mountain top and also while serving the people and making new friends. I feel like this is a great way to understand the phrase “Rejoice Always.” It is easy to be filled with joy when we are on top of a mountain, in those moments when life is truly beautiful yet in the hard moments in the valley, we might not experience joy as easily but once our attitude is one of gratitude and openness to God, joy is easily accessible. Your perspective affects your experiences and therefore affects your ability to rejoice. When my grandfather passed away, all of my family was by his side but my husband, kids and I because we live four hours from them all. I found joy in the fact that as my grandpa was born into eternal life, he was surrounded by his family and we were there through prayer. Even in the difficult moments, we can experience joy with a grateful heart open to God’s will. If you continue to struggle to rejoice always, all you have to do is ask God to give you joy. - Kate Tyler - Pastoral Associate - Part two will be posted soon and dive into what it means to pray without ceasing.
0 Comments
|
Archives
November 2018
Categories
All
|