“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His love endures forever.” 1 Chronicles 16:34

Thanksgiving

Some of the things I’ve learned on this unexpected journey circle back around again. I guess it’s like that all through our lives. We think we’ve learned something—and then it pops its head up again…sometimes repeatedly. I’ve come to understand that it’s God’s way of taking lessons deeper. It doesn’t mean we’ve failed when the same issues come up again! There are just some lessons that He wants to implant deep into our hearts, our lives, our character. But if He did it all at once, it would overwhelm us. So He teaches us a little bit—and then awhile later, He lets the same issue come up—and He teaches us a bit more. I’m so grateful for His gracious, patient way of teaching us and growing us.

He has been doing that for me on this journey. There are two things that seem to come up over and over and over again! One is being thankful in any andevery situation. The other is trusting God with whatever may come my way. Thankfulness and trust are best friends! When they link arms together, they are powerful in making it through hard times.

It’s easy to have a heart of thankfulness when things are going good. The difficulty comes when trials, challenges, and suffering come our way. The enemy will do his best to point out all the negatives. He’ll try to get us to focus on the problems instead of focusing on God’s goodness. He doesn’t want us to be thankful because he understands what a powerful weapon it is in surviving the hard times. Thankfulness and gratitude keep our spirits sweet and our hearts focused on the awesomeness of God.

There is ALWAYS something to be thankful for. If we can’t see anything, we must stop—take a deep breath—look around us—and take time to make a list of all the good things in our lives, starting with God’s goodness and faithfulness. I admit that there are some days when the problems are so huge that they dominate my vision. But once I stop and ask God for His perspective, then I see all the wonderful things that I have to be thankful for!

Trusting God in the midst of hard situations is perhaps more challenging, but it is so important. It’s in the hard times that we need to increase our trust in God—not let it waver or lessen. If the enemy can undermine our heart of trust in the Lord, it gives him an open door to weaken all our other foundations.

I find it helpful as I go about my day to continually speak out “I trust you Lord.” I can be more specific: “I trust You, Lord, to give me wisdom in this situation.” God isn’t looking at our words, He’s looking at our heart attitude.

I tell the Lord that I know He’s with me, and I trust Him. I tell Him that I know He has answers for everything I’m facing…even when I’m feeling overwhelmed with my situation…and when I need strength and fresh courage because I’m so exhausted that I can hardly stand upright, and when I can’t see how things will fit together in the time to come, and when I need His protection when arrows are coming my way from every direction. This allows our heart of trust towards Him to grow and expand.

I choose to keep the good friends of thankfulness and trust right by my side!

“Father, would You weave a strong “cord” from our heart to Yours as we choose to walk daily in thankfulness and trust. Amen.”