Lessons from the Desert

Hey Guys! My time here is getting short. I can't say that I hate to leave, but I can claim to have made enough new and great friends to be somewhat sad to have to part company. I have we sleep so well at night. They sacrifice so much for so little. I am proud to have been with them and to have experienced a tiny bit of what they go through.
The other day I witnessed a promotion ceremony. It is not the first I have witnessed, but something finally struck me about the significance placed on this promotion. Not that the soldiers getting promoted were anymore significant than the last, but the standing room only audience which was there to celebrate the accomplishments of one of their own.
So often in life we focus on ourselves and what we get or don't get. A good day is not measured by the accomplishments of others, but by our own success or failures. If we fail to live up to our standards or someone rains on our parade and we have a bad day everyone has a bad day. Kind of like the old saying that "when Mommas not happy, nobody's happy". Perhaps better put, if I have a bad day I could care less who has a good day.
This kind of thinking is not only self serving, but it is also self destructive. Furthermore, it is very un-Christ like. In 1st Thessalonian 5:16-18 Gods word tells us "To rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks; for this is Gods will for your life in Christ Jesus".
Why would this be Gods will for your life if it were not good and true? The answer is it wouldn't be. God does not want to hurt us or for us to hurt which is why this is His desire for your life. He wants you to have joy and peace, but not only when good fortune is coming to you. You see the more I live the more I learn that there are always wonderful things going on around us that are cause for us to celebrate. They may not directly affect us, but why can't we celebrate the joy of others? Now that sounds pretty Christ like doesn't it? Celebrate the joy of others.
Try this; next time you feel really down, you wake up on the wrong side of the bed, the dog wants to go out earlier than normal, it's raining and the umbrella is at the office, you lost your job, the car breaks down, Stop!, and think of someone else who just got a promotion, or in these times a job, think of the new Mother and Father, the graduation, baptism, the brutal chemo treatments that are going well, and smile. God has given us reason to celebrate everyday, we just have to look beyond ourselves to see it, and perhaps more importantly, to experience it. When you do, you will rejoice! Then pray and give thanks that God is on the throne and Christ overcame death and the cross so you don't have to carry the burdened.
God bless you and keep you. See you soon!