Always ~ Never ~ All

I awoke this morning with a hunger for God's Word.

So, I tended to LuLu, made my coffee and then settled in to pray, read and seek the Lord. I felt the overwhelming need to lift up the pastoral staff of my church, especially Pastor Tommy. What great responsibilities he has - caring for this flock so faithfully...

As I turned to His Word, I asked that I find all I needed for today within its pages. I get by a day at a time right now. And some days it is literally a "moment to moment" existence. But that's OK as long as I make it through.

I read something not long ago about giving thanks to God for everything. Everything. Good, bad, happy, sad, joyful, tragic...everything. That has been on my mind quite a bit lately. This morning, the Lord helped me.

"Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

The message is very clear; the language is strong: Always. Never. All. God's Will.

Wow. You have to love a passage that requires no deep thought for there can be no misinterpretation here!

If you've ever read anything regarding grief, then you know it's widely accepted that there are five stages in the grieving process - denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance - and that the process of moving through them is fluid. There is no order to them and a person may experience more than one at any given time for any length of time, many times over.

Since I lost my Sweet Hubby, I have heard a number people refer to the "anger" stage. And each time, I reflect on my own circumstances...this path I've walked that ultimately led to my Sweet Hubby going to be with the Lord. I have felt many emotions - the main one being profound sadness. My heart is broken. But never anger. Never, not once. How can I possibly be angry that God relieved my Sweet Hubby's suffering and called him to Paradise?

Which leads me back to those verses in 1 Thessalonians. If I am to always be joyful and give thanks in all circumstances because I belong to Jesus, then there is no room - no place - for anger. And I'm glad, because that means I can stop looking over my shoulder, like it's going to creep up on me from behind and catch me unaware. From the moment we received his diagnosis, my Sweet Hubby and I vowed we would find some way to honor and glorify the Lord while dealing with his illness and all it brought. We had no anger then and I hope to continue living that way now.

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

Sounds like a wonderful way to live. To God be all the glory...always.