It's all about perspective

Our four-year-old came home from the ER excited.
"I got to ride in a tube," she said, referring to her CT scan. "It was like a roller coaster."
"Well I hope you don't ride on that roller coaster again," I said.
"Why?" she asked, deflated.
"Because you have to be hurt to ride on that roller coaster," I said.
Oh, to be four and ride the waves of life so joyfully! Why can't I face adversity with the same sort of attitude?
Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
That's a bit of a tall order, isn't it? I can understand be joyful most of the time. I can understand be thankful more often then not. But here we're told to be joyful always and give thanks through it all. Why? Nothing can change what Christ has done. No matter how cruel the circumstances, Christ lived the perfect life required so He could die and pay the price. His sacrifice opened heaven for us and no one can take that away. While in this world, we'll feel the effects of sin, but thanks be to God it doesn't have to get us down. The battle's o'er; the victory's won! We are not defeated. Don't let circumstances make you act as if you are.