Every morning is a gift, even if you are not a morning person! Just kidding, with coffee even I can tolerate the morning. Joking aside, the more I read the word of God, pray to Him, and set myself to walk with Him; I find myself giving Him thanks for things I wouldn’t have in the past. Trials and difficult times are not things we typically give thanks for but my mind is being renewed. It is easy to praise God in the happy times, when all is good. But what about when life gets hard? Can we praise Him during the storms?
Years ago I remember reading through the book of Colossians and so much stood out to me. There were so many verses I found myself being able to stand upon and live my life towards. I would pick a verse to meditate on continuously throughout the day. Many times I would build the verse into a prayer, it helped set my mind on God instead of the world.
In those days, the trials of my days were rude customers I faced at work. It was easy to smile and be nice to them, for in word and deed I was showing the kindness of Jesus to them. I was very young in my Christian walk and God was using this time to refine me for the more difficult times I would face.
As I got older, the trials became harder as they seemed to deal with death, grief, and hardship. These were harder to smile through and words of affirmation didn’t seem to come to easy. I began to look at this verse in a new way and it took more of me to actually live it out. But each trial I went through was a time of growth and now I can share a word of encouragement to another. Experiencing hardships allows me to find ways to ease the hardship of another.
Now, I have my husband to walk with in life and we have faced some challenging circumstances together. As we have looked back on some hard times we can give thanks to God for how He shaped us, drawing us closer together and closer to Him.
While no one likes pain, loss, grief, or hardships I can be thankful that I have God with me throughout. Now, as more mature Christian I try to look at a situation and see how God wants to use me. One thing to remember, if you ask God to use you, He will! Be ready and willing to move when He tells you! Be ready and willing to speak when He tells you! Be ready to and willing to serve when He tells you!
The Life We Build 