Today on the podcast, Pastor Tim teaches us about the spiritual discipline of celebration. Granted, it can seem hard to celebrate when the world is so full of pain and sorrow, when the future is so uncertain, when we don’t know what sickness, pain, tragedy or grief awaits us right around the corner. But, the answer is at the same time both really simple and really hard.

Our ability to enter deeply into the discipline of celebration lies in direct proportion to our ability to deeply trust that God can and will provide for our needs.

One way to practice the discipline of celebration is to trust God to care for us in everything, to make our petitions to Him, with thanksgiving. We can be thankful that God has us in the midst of our circumstances. And we can learn to train our minds on things that are good and right and pure and lovely - to be grateful for the goodness of God and that, as the psalmist says, we get to see the goodness of God in the land of the living.

Tips For Practicing Celebration

• Laugh and take delight in the world around you.
• Listen to music, dance, sing.
• Celebrate the milestones or rites of passage in our lives like birthdays and anniversaries and graduations to give thanks to God.
• Write a gratitude list or count your blessings.
• Trust in the goodness of God.