很多基督徒認為這段經文太富挑戰性了，以致他們很難思念它。但正如我們曾經說過：逃避不會有出路。我曾經收過一封信，信中提出這麼一個問題：「保羅的意思真的是要我們常常喜樂嗎？他的意思會不會是有的時候喜樂呢？這會否是翻錯了？」不是，那不是翻錯了，那是使徒的話，是真實和準確的翻譯。

但我們真的可能常常喜樂嗎？我相信這是可能做到的。秘訣就是，唯有我們凡事都看到神，才能夠凡事保持喜樂。有些人也許會覺得很難接受而提出說：「有些事情是來自魔鬼，你這句話怎能應用到那些事情上去？」不錯，神確實可能不在某些事情的開頭，但祂肯定會在事情的過程中。你所遇到的境況或困難可能源自魔鬼，但到了事情臨到、或你在經歷時，就會有神的目的在其中了。

有一位年老的姊妹祈求要有麵包，一些頑皮的男孩聽到她的禱告後決定要作弄她，於是他們爬上屋頂把麵包從煙囪裡拋了下去。老姊妹看到麵包高聲喊說：「讚美主，神聽了我的禱告。」那些男孩跑來敲她的門，告訴她說：「不是神給妳麵包，是我們給的。」老姊妹笑著回答說：「那可能是魔鬼帶來的，不過它卻是受了神的差遣」。事情不論來自哪裡，當它發生在你身上的時候，你都可以肯定是有神的允許在其中。因此，它便能夠從本來是麻煩的來源，轉而成為得勝的源頭。

Many Christians find this text so challenging that they cannot allow their minds to focus on it. But as we have been saying - evasion will never get us anywhere. A letter I once received asked: "Did Paul really mean we should rejoice at all times? Didn't he mean sometimes? Can this be a mistranslation?" No, it is not a mistranslation - it is a true and accurate translation of the apostle's words.

But is it really possible to rejoice at all times? I believe it is. Here's the secret: we can rejoice in everything only to the extent that we see God in everything. Some might have difficulty with this, and respond: "There are some things which come from the devil; how can what you say be applied to that?" It is true that God may not be in the genesis of something, but He can certainly be in its exodus. Your circumstances or problems may have begun with the devil, but by the time they get to you and through you, they have a divine purpose running through them.

An old lady was praying for bread. Some boys, hearing her, decided to play a trick on her. They climbed up on her roof and threw some loaves down the chimney. "Praise the Lord," shouted the old lady, "God has heard my prayer." The boys then knocked on her door and said: "But it was not God who gave you the bread - it was us." She laughingly replied: "Well, the devil may have brought it, but it was God who sent it." Wherever an event comes from, by the time it gets to you, you can be sure it has got God's permission - and thus has the potential of becoming not a source of trouble but a source of triumph.