The Will of God
Good morning, Immanuel. God’s will is not a hidden or elusive secret reserved for highly spiritual individuals to attain.
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:16-18).
Sometimes, we imagine finding God’s will to be like a quest to find a needle in a haystack. With that mental image in mind, knowing God’s will feels like an exercise in futility, where the looming accusation behind every life challenge and failure is the sense of having “missed” God’s will. Paul’s words to us in 1 Thessalonians 5 are liberating. Paul doesn’t challenge us to a quest for a needle in a haystack or drive us to frantically uncover a hidden mystery. Instead, he invites us to be aware of the many ways Christ is mercifully and graciously at work in the mundane day-to-day moments and to respond to daily grace in kind. Notice how Paul locates responses like rejoicing, prayer, and thanksgiving in the context of ordinary moments—always, without ceasing, in all circumstances. God’s will is not a hidden or elusive secret reserved for highly spiritual individuals to attain. His will is an open invitation to acknowledge and respond to the many ways His goodness shows up in our daily lives. We are invited to rejoice always because even mundane moments with Jesus are working towards our joy in Him. We are invited to pray without ceasing because even our smallest needs are opportunities to know the bigness of Christ’s love. We are invited to give thanks in all circumstances because Jesus is with us in all circumstances, even in the mundane. God be praised!
God be praised indeed! Needed this!