Amelia Student Ministries - Amelia Church of Christ

Alright. So as everyone has surely been able to see, it is that time of year again.  It is time for the road crews to get out there and mess up traffic. They say it is for the greater good, but I’m not really sure about that.  I am also not sure why they do road work in the order that they do. Their priorities seem slightly askew sometimes, if you ask me. But all this construction got me to thinking…people complain a lot. I mean lets look at the facts. If there is a bump in the road, people complain about that. “Man!! This road is TERRIBLE!!! Its gonna tear my car to pieces!!”  Yet once road crews actually start working on the roads, all people do about that is complain. “Man!! This road is TERRIBLE!!! Its gonna tear my car to pieces!!”  Finally, when  all is said and done and the road is actually drivable again they say this, “.”  No one cares. They don’t appreciate the road, or even remember that the road was terrible there to begin with.

1 Thessalonians 5:16 says this, (Everyone had better rememeber this verse. My 2-year-old niece could remember this.) “Be joyful always;”  Wow, always?!? Surely that is way too much!! I mean evidently Jesus didn’t have to worry about bad roads. Well, if that is what you think, let me remind you of a story Jesus told. You know that story about the Good Samaritan? (Luke 10:25ff) Well, what made that story believable was that fact that it was believable!!  There were actual robbers that would kill you if you walked by. You want to talk about bad roads.

So when you are sitting in a car waiting for the traffic to move from a construction-induced traffic jam, remember this–No one is trying to kill you. So today, why won’t we “be joyful always.”