I love it when life is good, when I can sit back with family and friends and smile at how wonderful life is. Bills are paid, I have a little money in the bank, everyone is healthy and happy, work is done and we can relax and be thankful.
And that’s real thankfulness. It’s genuine. But prayers of thankfulness are easy when you have so much to be thankful for. That does not test your faith or challenge you at all.
But when times are tough and you are thankful—that’s when you know you are growing in the Lord.
When you have no money, no food, poor health and failure at work, can you still sing worship songs?
Can you talk to Jesus about how much you love Him even though you are hurting?
That kind of faith is so much deeper. When you praise God in the hardest times, then you know you really love Him.
Jesus told the disciples that of all the people giving money at the temple, the poor widow exceeded them all, though she gave only a fraction of a penny. “They all gave out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, has given all she had to live on.” Mark 12:44.
Have you ever given when you had so little? It is a sweet, special thing. Have you ever told God how much you love Him in spite of your academic setbacks?
Have you ever said, God, these are all my problems, but I love you anyway, I trust you with my whole life? That can be such a special time with Him because it lets you know where your heart is—it shows whether you love God Himself or only the things He can do for you. Do you seek His heart, or only His hand?
Pray through this powerful passage in Habakkuk chapter 3—even when every source of food is compromised, the prophet says he will praise God anyway.
“Though the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive fails and the fields produce no food, though the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle are in the stalls, yet I will exult in the LORD; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation! GOD the Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like those of a deer; He makes me walk upon the heights!” Verses 17-19.
Ask God to help you praise Him in the hard times.
Ask Him to remind you to give when you can’t afford it. Ask Him to give you the faith to love Him and praise Him and trust Him even in the hardest times. Are you suffering? Do you face challenges? Talk to Him about that. Praise Him in spite of the problems. Remind Him (and yourself) how much you love Him, no matter what disappointments come your way.
And be thankful for the challenges—nothing else can strengthen and prove your faith like adversity. And nothing will give you the same heart of humility that God blesses. There is so much to be thankful for when you suffer!
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