God’s will for me!

Have you ever seen a show on TV called CSI? This stands for ‘Crime Scene Investigation’ and so the show follows a fictional group of forensic investigators. I’m not a massive fan of the programme because it is so ridiculously over the top, but that is just one man’s opinion :o)

The characters on the show have an amusingly annoying habit of over abbreviating everything! I happened to turn on to CSI:Maimi (I think) the other day and was thoroughly amused to find myself completely lost as to what these characters were even talking about – their was barely a full word in their dialogue!

One such a abbreviation was C.O.D. This would pop up in conversation as follows: “So, what do you think of the C.O.D.?” It took me a while before I realised that they were referring to ‘Cause Of Death’. After I had begun to crack some of their other codes it made the show a whole lot more entertaining and comprehendible. In the end Helen (my sister-in-law) thought that it would be ‘cool’ to ridiculously abbreviate elements of our faith and so we entertained ourselves by asking each other was our C.O.G. was (Calling Of God).

It was hilarious until we noticed ourselves occasionally use this term of reference in genuine conversation! The other morning, for example, we found ourselves asking what our COG for the day was! While I was surprised by our genuine use of this ridiculous abbreviation I also realised that we do have a daily COG!

So what’s your COG?
Do you know what it is today? Do you think you don’t have one; like it’s a day off or something or you’re not important enough to received one?

This is [one of] your COG:
“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thes 5:16-18

We are familiar with verses 16 and 17 (although we may not like them or apply them to our lives… at a cost) but I have certainly overlooked the importance of verse 18.

Giving thanks in all circumstances is our COG!
Not giving thanks when things have gone well (although this is also important) but to give thanks when everything has gone pear-shaped, when you’ve received no answer to prayer, when your heart broken or you’re feeling betrayed or in pain. Now, don’t think for a second that God is calling us to give thanks for these disastrous situations [that would be madness!], He is calling us to give thanks in them. What can fuel our thanksgiving in such situations? A certainty that He is for us, a confidence that He will sustain us, knowing that He will never ever leave us, and that our names are indelibly recorded in heaven!