Will you thank God in the midst good times? How about times of trouble? At first thought this question is strange, perhaps leaning more toward dumb. Your world is crashing down around you and some blogger on the other side of the internet wants to know if you Have thanked God in this?”.
Thank God In Good Times And Bad
Of course not! Why would I thank God for the trouble? For the mistakes that got my son on his way to jail. The lost job that has led to financial problems. The lost loved one. The deserted friend. The leaking roof and the broken down car. Why would I?
Better Not Bitter
An old friend of mine liked to say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. That’s not quite right. Its your reaction to the pain that makes the difference. I love the idea of working out, but the second day when I roll out of bed and my legs don’t want to work because they are so sore, and all I want to do is stay in bed- here is where your choice lies, press through the pain or give up and maybe grow bitter. I have to say I am very guilty of the latter.
Praising Through Pain
No one likes pain, if change didn’t require pain well lets just say we’d all look like super models. But alas it does (Kissing the image of me strutting down the runway- and the face plant I would do when my heel got caught on the carpet goodbye). Pain means you are challenging yourself. Your striving for better.
When life gets rough, all it means is God’s at work, and He is going to do something big. You just have to trust Him. So… have you thanked Him in all of this?
Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Before You Go, Check Out These Other Articles
- It Didn’t Go My Way
- Struck Down But Not Destroyed
- Seek Me
- You Are Mine
- Taking The Training Wheels Off Your Faith
- Dare To Dream His Dreams
- He Is Friendship
- He Is Our Hope
- Let Him Plant The Flowers
- Sometimes God Uses A Sledgehammer
- This is War
- Waiting To Live
- Waiting To Exhale
- When The World Says “You’re Not Enough”
- Don’t Stop Building – Working Through Criticism
- Don’t Stop Praying
- When The World Says To Quit
- Jumping To Conclusions
- Life is Hard
- Charades, When the World Says You’re Faking
- Don’t Postpone Joy
- Bear One Another’s Burdens
Years ago, I heard that you have 2 choices in your reaction to a difficult situation: to become BITTER, or to become BETTER. It's your choice what happens.
For a muscle to become stronger, it must be broken down. That is the only way in which it can grow back better than it was before it was strained beyond its 'normal' capacity. This is what God does – using trials in our lives to help build qualities [i.e. Fruit of the Spirit] into our lives. He is allowing this for out Good, to help us become more like Him.
Thank you so much Rachel, this is beautiful!