Philippians 4:4,  Rejoice in the Lord always.  Again I will say, rejoice!

November is a month in the U.S. when we focus on being Thankful.  We celebrate Thanksgiving at the end of the month which originated with some of the nation’s first settlers giving thanks for the harvest, they had survived a lot and were thankful to God.  Being thankful and rejoicing can go hand in hand.  

There may be days when you look around at all you are facing or all that is going on in the world and wonder what on earth there is to rejoice about, and the answer is Him.  We can always rejoice in Him because no matter what ~ Jesus is still on His throne!  When you pray and things don’t seem to be turning out the way you were expecting and it all seems to be getting worse, you can still rejoice in the fact that nothing takes Him by surprise and there’s no power on this earth or anywhere else that is a match for Him.  He knows!  He sees and He isn’t wondering what to do, He had a plan long ago and it will come to pass.  The best thing to do is to stick as close by His side as you can, pursue Him with your whole heart, and trust Him.  Nothing escapes His notice!  He sees it all and His plan is always best.  I have had times when I have prayed mapping everything out for Him as if maybe He was somehow missing what was going on and maybe needed my help strategizing …. I look at that now and when I start doing that it makes me think of a toddler trying to help you figure out how to fix your car.  Some of my suggestions may humor Him and I am sure there are some that make Him scratch His head and there may have been a few over the years that may have made Him consider slapping a knot on my head, but whatever the case may be, He’s got this and He knows and always does what is best.  Trust Him and rejoice in that!  

Rejoice in the fact that you don’t have to figure it out, you don’t have to do anything but trust Him.  When it looks as though there’s no way for anything good to come of it all think about the Israelites when they got to the Red Sea with Pharaoh and His army in hot pursuit behind them and God parted the sea and then destroyed their enemies in that sea after the Israelites had passed over safely.  God has a way of just showing up when all hope is lost.  I always think back to the night I accidentally locked myself out of the house, living in the middle of nowhere, and my children and I were dropped off by friends after church.  We didn’t have cell phones.  I had two toddlers and an infant and it was pitch black because the sky was covered by clouds.  My landlord lived almost a mile away down a dirt road and I had no choice but to pull it together and high heels and all, walk with my babies to their house.  I prayed and asked for God to help because there was no light coming from anywhere, I could barely see and as we stepped out of the driveway onto that dirt road a hole opened up in the clouds just big enough for the moon to shine through and light our way.  It stayed that way until we arrived at the house and as the Landlord was driving us back he asked, “How on earth did you see to be able to walk here?”  When I told Him about the moon, being the great man of faith that he was, he said, “That’s God!”  Nothing is impossible and that is because we have a mighty God who loves us!  He is The Almighty God and He loves you!  He loves to make Himself known by showing up mighty so all can see that He is God.  Rejoice in The Lord because He is amazing beyond our understanding!  Cling to His promises, trust Him no matter what, and Rejoice in Him always!  Again I say ~ Rejoice!