Be joyful always? Really? ALWAYS?

Be joyful always, pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.     -- 1 Thessalonians 5:16-

When God say always does He really mean ALWAYS?  Like ALL the time?  No matter what? Without exception?  Every time?  Every circumstance?  Could He possible mean THAT?

I mean- how is that even possible.  Today I woke up with the remain of a migraine that will not quite go away that has interposed on my sleep for two nights.  Was I supposed to joyful with THAT?

This afternoon I was ready to strangle someone I love very much.  Someone I have cared and nurtured for many years.  Was I supposed to be joyful THEN?

When I got home a car wouldn't start and we had to jump it.  Was I supposed to be joyful THEN?

Then I finally got inside, out of the cold wind (was I supposed to be joyful when I was cold?) and was met at the door with a "We have something to tell you" and the look from the supervising sibling that communicated that serious parental intervention was required.  Then? Was I supposed to be joyful THEN?

REALLY?

Yes. Really!  I was.  Supposed to be that is.  I wasn't.  Joyful I mean.  How could God expect me to feel joy in all these circumstances?  Uh-  well-  I guess He didn't command me to feel anything.  He really just commanded me to BE something and He was gracious enough to tell me how.

Praying continually. Being thankful.  If I am supposed to be praying continually then it must mean that I am going to need a lot more of God and a lot less of me in order to be joyful.

And if I am "giving thanks in all things" I am going to be awfully busy.  In fact I will have little time left over for feeling sorry for myself or feeling angry at a mistake or feeling envious of another's abundance.

So I think I better have a "do over" today- Thank you Lord for the headache: thank You that I have to slow down, and for medicine that can work, and family that cares that I am in pain.  Thank you Lord for the mistake of my child: thank You for the opportunity for a lesson to be learned, and thank You for ready solutions, and thank you for the opportunity I will have to apologize when he gets home, and thank You for love that covers a multitude of sins.  Thank You Lord for a car with a bad battery: 

thank You for a responsible son who doesn't expect me to fix everything for him, and thank You for jumper cables, and thank You for a car at all and that it still runs after 180,000 miles.  Thank You for the cold wind: I like sweaters.  Thank you Lord for my young child and her sins: thank You for the chance to share how You hate lies, and thank You that You hate lies, and thank You for creative ideas, and thank You for a big sister who cares for their younger sister, and thank You that I was with her for this valuable lesson.

Thank You that I do not have to feel happy to BE joyful.  Thank YOU.