Give Thanks IN all circumstances

I Thessalonians 5:16-24
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing,
give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Do not quench the Spirit.

Do not despise the words of prophets,
but test everything; hold fast to what is good;
abstain from every form of evil.

May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.

When life is not going smoothly, how can I be thankful? When situations are tense, fraught with either uncertainty or the certainty of hard reality, how can I rejoice? How do I hold on to the good that God provides and abstain from the encroachments of darkness.

I hear the call to pray without ceasing. As I pray, I am cultivating a realtionship ... a relationship that underlies all that I experience. In prayer my soul connects with inifinite and enduring Love. That connection, then, helps me to trust a solid purpose is moving me constantly to wholeness.

Gratitude bubbles up then, IN all circumstances, even though I am not thankful FOR all situations. I may not feel particularly grateful for a job loss, or illness or broken relationship. But the prayer that flows from my heart connects me through the Holy Spirit to God who provides everything that I most need for peace of heart, soul and mind. In each and every circumstance I can then rejoice and be glad...