By Gina Caswell Kelly
I have a Senior grandson. He is my last one. Lots of things happening. Lots of “lasts” this year. It is all in my calendar. That is the thing about stuff like this. You can plan around everything because the dates are all laid out. I know that graduation will be May 22nd. It is marked. I like knowing when things are coming and being able to plan for it. Much of life is that way. We know when things are and we can plan for them.
However, in life, there are always surprises that come along. Things you did not plan for. Things that take you by surprise. Sudden events. I was driving home from Arlington yesterday and was stuck in traffic for about 15 minutes at a complete standstill. Fortunately, our GPS has evolved so much that the chick on my screen was telling me there had been an accident up ahead. So, I was thinking. The people in the accident did not plan that. The people (including me) in the traffic line up did not plan this extra 15 minutes in their drive time. I got to thinking about the people in the four lanes of traffic sitting there. What if one was on the way to the hospital about to give birth? What if one was on the way to the hospital for a loved one about to die? They had no way to plan for any of that. Honestly, I do not know how people live with traffic like that. I like knowing it will take me about seven minutes to get to work from my house.
The point of this is that while we can plan for things on our calendar all we want, sometimes life happens and plans get messed up. How do we react when those plans change? How do we react when things do not go as we had planned? There is a verse in 1 Thessalonians that says, “Rejoice always,pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
This verse reminds us that we are to look for what we can rejoice about, pray continually and give thanks in all circumstances. It does not say FOR all circumstances. God does not expect us to give thanks for tragedy. But He does want us to recognize that even in the midst of things that were not marked on our calendar, He is present and for that, we are to be most thankful.
We all have surprises that will come along. My prayer is that you will remember 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 and rejoice, pray and give thanks, no matter what is swirling around you. It will make a difference!