By The Book

See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do no quench the Spirit. Do no despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.

I Thessalonians 5:15-22

Naturally, this whole passage is worthy of remembrance (as is the whole Good Book), but I'll focus on this part, the most famous part, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

Everyone experiences times of difficulty in life--it's a known fact. The amount of parables warning of life's travails and warding us away from pitfalls is innumerable. Sometimes these events manifest only as a bad day or a flat tire, but others are much more serious, possibly even fatal. No one experiencing these things can be expected to be unaffected, but there are some who rise above the situations of life. There are those who are consistently joyful. Rejoice does not necessarily coincide with enjoyment; instead, to rejoice is a far greater thing. Joy is a difficult emotion on which to tack a definition, but it amounts to contentment and walks hand-in-hand with love, peace, and hope. I try to watch myself. It is easy to forget prosperous times when confronted with calamity. I have no choice though; God's Word is God's Word. In the end though, joy has a wonderful habit of infecting everyone it touches.

Prayer. Often this tool is laid aside for the darkest of times. Too often we are content with supplication only after all of our efforts have been in vain. This system is all-together foolish. Prayer is an instrument of incredible power, true, and should be summoned when terrible events occur. However, if God is faithful to help in the great things, how much more so will he use His divine power in the small troubles of life? I pray before every test and quiz at school. I pray before exams, traveling, exercise, and whenever it hits me. Of course, I'm far from a saint. I forget to pray all the time. But when I talk to family, my girlfriend, my friends and I hear of the simplest difficulty, all I have to do is pray for God's grace to be poured out on that person.

And after all of these things you cannot help but give thanks. A Christian has no other (faithful) option but to acclaim the works of the Creator at all times. Thank Him for all the mysteries he concocts because, as it says in Genesis 50:20, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, to accomplish what is now being done: the saving of many lives."

By the way, "Abstaining from every form of evil" is always a good word by which to live.