Rejoice always,
pray continually, 
give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

On August 24, 2022, I was heading to a prayer lunch and waiting at a stop light. All of the sudden, BAM, I was hit from behind by a driver going 50 in a 35, no brakes. Amazingly, though her little car seemed all crunched up, she was able to walk out of it. She hit me so hard with a Honda Civic that it bent the frame of my Chevy Silverado.

Now the reason I am telling this story, is because I had been working out at a fitness class for eight months for five days a week. I was in great shape and was ready to compete in a team competition. My muscles were strong and fairly healthy, for a 50 year old. And when I looked in the mirror my abdomen muscles definitely held up my stomach well. Now, almost two years later, with a lot of therapy to recover from my auto accident injuries, and a lot less working out, my muscles do not support me as well.

Our face muscles are an interesting part of our muscle make up. How we use our face muscles determines the preset resting place of our face, in large degree. Have you ever noticed that some people have a permanent smile? What about the ones with a permanent frown? I know sometimes that may be because of an injury or something. But I also know from singing that if you exercise the muscles that make you smile; it’s a lot easier to smile more often.

As I think about this passage, the key theme is outlook. The apostle Paul is talking about having a joyful and thankful outlook. How do we have this outlook? It is by prayer. It is by remembering God‘s faithfulness, and by claiming the hope we have in Jesus Christ.

When we do these things, not only will we smile physically a lot more and exercise those muscles, but our heart will also smile frequently, and people will be attracted to our positive outlook on this life and the next! Being a person who focuses on God‘s blessings instead of the challenges in this world makes me smile more. When I decide to let the world's challenges impact my thinking, I become a complainer, and my smile fades.

So going forward, I plan on exercising my spiritual muscles in prayer, through rejoicing and being thankful. This will make the countenance of my heart one that smiles often.

Lord, thank you for this revelation to me about spiritual smiling. Make me someone who more often smiles spiritually into the lives of others and blesses them frequently.