Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. I Thessalonians 5:16-18
The apostle Paul planted a church in Thessalonica, a city of 200,000 people. His success there provoked conflict among the unbelieving Jews. They started a riot, hauled some of the members of this new church before the city authorities, and charged them with disloyalty to Caesar. Paul leaves town, so wrote this letter to them from a distant location. These instructions from verses 16 through 18 are part of a longer list of final instructions Paul gives in his effort to still pastor this church and lead them.
Even though Paul was gone, the new church still dealt with hostility. These Christians suffered persecution from the beginning for their commitment to Jesus Christ.
Imagine living in a city like that and hearing these words from Paul to rejoice always, to pray continually, and to give thanks in all circumstances. Not just when the sun shone and things were going your way, but even when you were treated unfairly in the marketplace, or your respected pastor was forced to leave town, or the civil authorities gave unjust convictions for crimes to your friends and family.
Rejoice, Paul says. Give thanks in all circumstances, Paul says. But why would he tell people to act that way? Because this is God’s will for you. But doesn’t God see the torment, the injustice, and the pain? Yes, he does. When Paul writes that it’s God’s will for us to rejoice, pray, and give thanks, he’s telling us that God is interested in more than our comforts, our success, and our ability to get along with the world.
God wanted to develop in the heart and the culture of this new church a mentality of abundance. he wants them to see everything they have as a blessing, and not as something they deserve. The Thessalonian believers are invited to live in their pagan, Caesar-worshiping culture as lights that shine for Christ. Rejoicing, prayer, and gratitude create the right conditions for the holy Spirit to work. If the Thessalonian church complained instead of rejoiced, if they criticized or passed judgment instead of saying “thank you,” and if they gave God the silent treatment out of frustration over their circumstances, then the Spirit would have no place among them.
But this small group of people said, “We are going to praise God even when life gets hard. We are going to keep on praying even when the deck is stacked against us. We are going to hold onto the good, look for it in others, and then thank them when we see it.” Because of this choice the Thessalonian church made, that city began to change.
God’s will for them ultimately was to become contagious by spreading the love of Christ. They were attractive because they held the keys to freedom. they possessed the reasons for true, lasting hope. They conducted a power for life and healing that was stronger than any decree or political power associated with Caesar.
Keep practicing gratitude. It’s healthy for our own hearts and souls, and it’s healthy for our communities and for our world. When you are a person who is thankful, kind and attentive to the good around you, then you are someone that everyone wants to be with. A grateful life is attractive because that person knows they have enough. They know they have an abundant supply that never runs out. They rest confident in the Heavenly Father from whom these good gifts come.
Practicing gratitude supplies us with plenty to meet our own needs, and with plenty to give away. Gratitude and thankfulness are lovely gifts that keep on giving. This is God’s will for us–to live in his enduring love and then to give it away whenever we can. As we do this, his Holy Spirit is given the space to work among us in power and with the promise of transformation. Gratitude is healthy.
