Praising God in the Middle of a Hard Season

October 30, 2024

“Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4).

Rejoice… always. Anybody can thank God for good things. But when you can thank God even in the bad times, your faith grows and your spiritual roots go deeper.

In the Bible, the prophet Habakkuk was going through tough times. He said, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior” (Habakkuk 3:17-18 NIV).

Habakkuk wasn’t thanking God for all the things that had gone wrong in his life. What was his cause of gratitude? “I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”

The Lord himself was the cause of Habakkuk’s gratitude.

He wasn’t just grateful for what God has DONE (Which God has done countless things for you that you can be grateful for) but he was grateful for God himself. He was grateful for WHO God is.

No matter how bad things are, there is always the fact that you can be thankful to God just for being God. A God who is faithful. A God who is loving and full of grace. A God who is holy and righteous and all-knowing. There are so many qualities and characteristics of God that we can be thankful for at all times.

And, God has promised that even when things don’t go your way, he can work it for good in your life. 

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,^[a] for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

I don’t know what trials you may be facing right now, but God does, and He loves you and is with you by His Holy Spirit.

I encourage you to choose gratitude one days you feel like it… and on days that you don’t.

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

Gratitude will grow your faith and give you peace in the midst of hard times.