Gratitude: During the Hard Times

Have you ever been in a season of life where it’s hard to be grateful? Maybe you just lost your job. Or a loved one is sick. Or you got a diagnosis that isn’t the best. Or maybe it’s the holidays, and you’re estranged from your family.

I think we’ve all been there at one point. Where we know deep down that we’re grateful for what God has given us, and for who He is. But it’s hard to focus on gratitude in those moments where everything feels so heavy and hard.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 tells us, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Notice that it doesn’t say to give thanks for all circumstances. It says to give thanks in all circumstances.

There’s a difference.

God isn’t asking us to pretend that hard things aren’t hard. He’s asking us to remember that even in the middle of those hard things, He is still good. He is still faithful. And He is still worthy of our gratitude.

But you are not alone. If you were to step into a room full of people, every single one of them would be able to share a struggle that they’re going through. Even the disciples struggled with faith and understanding what God was doing.

Peter knew who Jesus was. In Matthew 16:16, he declared, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Yet just a few verses later, when Jesus explained that He would suffer, be killed, and rise again, Peter actually tried to rebuke Him!

Jesus responded in Matthew 16:23, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” 

Think about that. Peter recognized Jesus as the Messiah, but he couldn’t understand why the Messiah would have to suffer. He couldn’t see that the very thing he was trying to prevent was the thing that would bring salvation to the world.

And aren’t we like that sometimes?

Sometimes it’s hard to be grateful when the thing that we’re supposed to be grateful for is a hard thing.

Maybe losing your job is what opens the door to something you never would have considered. Maybe walking alongside a sick loved one creates an opportunity to share Jesus in a way you never have before.

Now, that doesn’t mean every hardship happens because God is trying to teach us a lesson or that every painful situation will have an obvious happy ending. But it does mean that God can work even through the things we would never have chosen for ourselves.

Romans 8:28 reminds us, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

It doesn’t say all things are good. It says God works through all things for good. And sometimes we don’t get to see or understand what He’s doing on this side of heaven.

There’s another passage that I think captures this so beautifully.

In Habakkuk 3:17–18, the prophet describes a time when everything seems to be falling apart. The fig tree isn’t blossoming. There’s no fruit on the vines. The fields aren’t producing food. The flocks and herds are gone.

And yet, in verse 18, he says:

“Yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.”

I love that little word yet.

Even though everything around him was falling apart, Habakkuk made a choice to rejoice in the Lord. Not because his circumstances were good. Not because everything had worked out. But because he knew who God was.

And sometimes that’s exactly what gratitude looks like.

Sometimes gratitude doesn’t come from something good happening. Sometimes it comes from recognizing that God is still at work through something incredibly hard.

We see that most clearly at the cross.

There’s nothing easy about knowing that Jesus was beaten, rejected, and crucified for us. But what looked like the darkest moment in history became the greatest gift we could ever receive.

Hebrews 12:2 tells us that Jesus, “for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame.”

Jesus knew what was ahead of Him. He knew the suffering He would endure. And yet He willingly went to the cross because He knew what it would accomplish.

Our salvation. Our forgiveness. Our reconciliation with God.

And if there’s one thing we can always be grateful for, no matter what season of life we’re in, it’s that Jesus loved us enough to go to the cross for us.

Romans 5:8 says, “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

So maybe this season, gratitude doesn’t look like celebrating everything that’s happening in your life. Maybe it looks like trusting God when you don’t understand. Maybe it looks like thanking Him through tears. Maybe it looks like simply waking up and saying, “Lord, I don’t know what You’re doing right now, but I know who You are.”

And maybe that’s the challenge for all of us this Thanksgiving season.

Can we be grateful even when life is hard? Can we say, like Habakkuk, “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord”?

Not because everything is going the way we hoped, but because we know the One who holds our lives in His hands.

Because our gratitude isn’t rooted in how good our circumstances are.

It’s rooted in how good our God is.

And the cross is our greatest reminder of that.

~ Words by Anna-lisa Tuupo