But i don't FEEL cheerful today!!

1 Thess 5:16-18

“Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.”

Filled with good cheer=cheerful.  It seems more culturally appropriate to live by our emotions. To live so caffeinated that we are highly efficient…but rather robotic interpersonally.  How far from the ideal we have wandered!  Warm-hearted, loving people is what God had in mind- simply mirroring his own warm-heartedness!  Its not something we have to manufacture- merely something we relay to others as we receive it!

When once we look fully into God’s truth – that he loves us passionately, shamelessly with no regard for His dignity or self-respect…..then and only then will we grasp who we are, in Him.  Then and only then can we understand how beloved others are too- and begin to treat them as He does.

Being cheerful is not meant to be a shallow, plastic-smiled behavior. Instead it is the “filled with good cheer” security of heart that knows how beloved we are and cannot help but smile and share it with others.

That deep knowing-I’m-loved state allows us to trust God with whatever comes our way.  In fact, we can thank God for all of it- even when it appears to be heading in a frightening or insecure direction!  Knowing HIM cancels out fear.  Fear is the direct opposite to confident trust.  It is important to recognize how naturally we fear God – he is invisible, all –powerful, sees everything and knows everything. Perhaps our FIRST response of fear only means we understand whom we are dealing with. To have that change, or perhaps grow into confident trust is a miracle all by itself. 

It takes much reassuring on God’s part before we can grasp that his entire attitude toward us is love, more love and an almost embarrassing amount of love!! (sometimes I think we’d prefer he’d just be mad at us…how do we handle all that love!??)

But we need to square with being loved that much if we are to be salt and light to the world.  Begin each day reminding yourself that God has been staring at you, lovingly, all night. Remember that if God had a wallet, your picture would be in it. He’s just crazy about you!!!  From that starting place, we can live out the truth of this verse…and become agents of grace in this hurting, misguided world of people he loves so dearly.

Amen.