During good times we feel more grateful and acknowledge the goodness of God in our lives. Positive experiences and outcomes can bring about feelings of joy and happiness, and it is natural to express our gratitude to God. However, it’s important to remember that life is not always filled with good times. Sometimes even good events in our lives make us forget to thank God for His blessings. We also forget to thank Him for the hardships that He has allowed us to go through, and we lose the value of the things that did not go well. It is very confusing that the more we get closer to God and to ministry, the more pressure seems to keep building. Even if we don’t understand everything, praising God is still the best thing to do.
A year ago, I almost gave up my faith because of all the suffering I was going through. Our mother had passed away and it felt as if nothing could fill the void and the emptiness was growing with each day. Then, with God’s grace, I overcame all the grief. After that, I decided to serve God wholeheartedly; however, the news I received last week was the opposite of what I expected. My wife had lost her position in our job and it was completely terrible.
The reason I’m mentioning this is that I want to let you know that even when you draw near to God who has the power to give everything, sometimes losing is still not impossible to happen. But don’t worry, For sometimes God takes away something you never expected to lose, but He will replace it with something you never imagined you could have.
Psalm 9:1. “I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.” All of the things that happen to us are always wonderful. Even the most tragic events in our lives are connected to His plans. We may not be able to understand everything that life throws at us or why certain things happen, but it’s important to keep in mind that God knows what He is doing. His plans are perfect and He always has our best interests in mind.
Even our “enemies” may come in the form of bills, health problems, and other issues. Our enemies want to distract our focus on God and keep us from experiencing the blessings that come from walking in faith and being closer to God. David experienced both joy and sorrow yet still offered up his praises in front of the enemies. Every time, we lose our focus, we need to remind ourselves that God is always where our focus should be and thus our focus should be on the things that come from above and not the things of this world.
The omnipresence of God means that He can perceive or see all of our actions and our intentions. If we take more time to express our gratitude to Him, even in times of trouble, then we get more attention from heaven. Try to compare your situation to Job in the Old Testament. In just one day Job loses almost all of his livestocks, and all of his children die in a tragic accident. Later, Job is afflicted with horrible skin sores; even his wife encourages him to curse God.
Despite all of this, Job did not curse God or sin against Him. Job still praised and trusted God. Job 1: 21 Job said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” God sees everything. God loves a grateful heart that praises Him at all times and in all situations. Nothing will change if we keep on complaining, but praising God will cause your circumstances to change.
