Our lives as Christians are a beautiful tapestry interwoven and made up of the highs and lows of life.  The incredible promise we have from God is that He will work all things together for our good.  Our job as Christians is to keep a thankful heart.  This is especially true when we go through hardship and suffering.  We need to always keep a thankful heart.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

As you can see from the verse above, being thankful is not a suggestion.   We’re told that it it God’s will for us to be thankful and to rejoice always and pray continually.  Therefore, we need to build these into our lives and do this daily.

It’s also important to note in this verse that it says give thanks in all circumstances not for all circumstances.  This is an important distinction because in life we often face devastating hardship. God is not telling us to be thankful for the hard, devastating things that happen.  But He is telling us to give thanks as we go through these devastating times because He is with us and will help us.

WHAT CAN WE BE THANKFUL FOR DURING HARD TIMES?

When you’re going through a hard time it may be difficult to be thankful.  But our biggest source of thankfulness is when we remember that God will never leave us or forsake.  We have the promise of His presence with us always.  This is incredible and brings so much hope and comfort.  And in addition to this we also have the assurance of God’s strength and grace to help us no matter what we face.

Let’s choose to face every situation we encounter with thankfulness.  And as we do God’s grace and strength and mercy will abound to us and we will come through in victory!