“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
I was asked to prepare a message for staff devotionals at Missions of Hope this morning. As I struggled to find a topic to teach on, someone told me that I should just choose something that I have learned during my time here. The first thing that popped into my head after he said that was this passage from 1 Thessalonians. I don’t think that that I have ever witnessed these verses lived out as much as I have here in Kenya.
“Be joyful always.” I have always considered myself a pretty joyful person. I have also been blessed with a wonderful family, friends, home, education, comparatively peaceful country and so much more. And even so, there are so many times when I let something small steal my joy and I fall into a cranky funk. I have witnessed pure, unadulterated, God-given joy here. Joy in circumstances that would be appalling to the average American. There is so much hardship here: acts of terrorism around every corner, unbelievable living conditions, sexual assault, death, disease, extreme poverty. Many children grow up orphans or with a single parent. Their small 8X8 tin homes burn down in a fire. There are children passed out on piles of trash, high on glue, because anything is better than the extreme, constant hunger pains they feel. And yet, even in all of this, I can’t go anywhere without seeing smiling people. Their faith in Jesus Christ has given them hope, has given them a future. And this brings them such joy! I have never lived in a place with so many joyful people. Security guards, grocery store cashiers, vendors in the slums, everyone I come across has a smile and a kind word. And it’s contagious! Even without all of the luxuries or even basic essentials, these people have joy. And sadly, that is more than I can say for many Americans. I think we really need to question why that is. Why is it that we Americans, who have so much by the standard of the world, are still so often unhappy? Is it maybe because, just maybe Christ is the true giver of joy, and not the things of this world?
“Pray continually.” Another principle that I have seen lived out. So many conversations that I have had with the people here revolve around prayer. God is brought up in conversations all the time. How God answered a prayer, where He showed up in their lives, something that they are currently praying about. Prayer is everywhere! I often forget to pray throughout my day because I am “busy” or get distracted. But God, our Abba Father longs for us to be in communication with Him! It’s just like if we went several days, weeks, or even months without speaking to our spouse or friends. Suddenly we may come to realize that we don’t even know them anymore. We have no idea what has been going on with them. That is how it is with God. Even though He is always with us, without prayer, we may find that we are having a hard time differentiating His voice from the voice of the world.
“Give thanks in all circumstances.” In ALL circumstances. Not just the good. The good, the bad, and the downright ugly. As I said before, we have so much to be thankful for. Wade through the piles of trash and open sewage in the slums and stop by a shanty to talk with a family of believers. Even though they have so much less than the rest of the world in terms of material items, they will tell you all that they have to praise God for. Life, family, community, the love of Christ. The important things. When we forget to thank God for the good things He has blessed us with, we become prideful and can start to think that good things are happening because of our own skills and abilities, because of what WE are doing instead of Him. And a prideful heart is the quickest way to distance yourself from God. Then if we fail to praise Him in the bad times, it is like we are saying, “God, there is nothing about You that is praiseworthy because things are so bad right now.”
As simple as these three verses are, they are so incredibly difficult to live out! Sometimes I think that we need a healthy dose of perspective. We have so much to be joyful about and thankful for. And prayer is not a chore. It is a privilege. We have direct access to God through the Holy Spirit! Why aren’t we taking more advantage of this? It is such a gift! I am constantly guilty of doing the opposite of all of these principles. But fortunately, God’s grace is readily available, and He has placed some wonderful people in my life to show me what it really means to be living life the way that He intended us to. Full of joy, thankfulness and constant prayer.
Rachel Goes to Kenya! 