Be joyful always, pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, NIV)
Golf will always be an enigma to me. I love to play, but it often results in a great deal of frustration about not being able to control what happens. I can prepare, but on some days, stuff just doesn’t work out. On the flipside, there are days when I have done nothing to prepare to play and lots of good things happen. It appears to be less dependent on my own efforts and more dependent on something I can’t quite define. Is it luck, or fate, or destiny? Who knows? It is an enigma, but if I am going to continue to play, I know I need to accept uncertainty as part of the game. How I deal with that will be part of how I can continue to enjoy playing golf.
My life as a believer in Jesus bears a remarkable resemblance to this enigma. I find that I have little or no control over many things that happen to me. I can’t control the weather, the stock market, or the political environment. I find myself at the mercy of external forces that come to bear on my life with little regard for either my skill or preparation. How exactly am I supposed to deal with things that are outside of my control?
Our state of our mind is not to be controlled by our circumstances, but rather by our trust in the power and love of the One we serve.I really have two choices. I can let them cause me to worry and try harder to gain control or I can do what the Scripture for today urges us to do. We are told to be joyful always, pray all the time, and give thanks in all circumstances. That is a tall order, but as our verse goes on to explain, this is actually God’s will for us as believers in Jesus.
We are never promised a stress-free or perfect life. Instead, we are told that we will have tribulation. Not that we might but that we will. Difficult circumstances are part of God’s plan to direct us toward him. Jesus said he would never leave or forsake us but would be with us in every difficult circumstance.
With that thought in mind we should read today’s verse again. When we are in Jesus and the Holy Spirit is in us, we are never alone, no matter the circumstance. Come what may, the Creator of the universe is in fact in control of our circumstances. To that end his instructions to us are to always be joyful, to pray all the time, and to give thanks in every situation because that is God’s will for us. Our state of our mind is not to be controlled by our circumstances, but rather by our trust in the power and love of the One we serve. We can weather the storm because our life is built on the Rock that is Jesus. Our peace does not depend on our external circumstances but on the power of the One we serve.
The answer to the enigma of our life is found in the Creator who made us. None of it makes any sense until we come to know him.
—
Linda Ballard
November 5, 2020
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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