Monday, November 19, 2007

Giving Thanks in the Midst of Pain

It’s difficult. It’s very difficult to be thankful when your heart is hurting. It’s difficult to be thankful when you are in the presence of happy, busy people and you feel so sad and alone. Life can be brutally painful when we are expected to say thank you but we cannot even begin to mouth the words.

How can we give thanks in the midst of job loss, illness, broken relationships, and death? How is it possible to thank God, our Father, when we have been pummeled by the storms of life? How does a heavy heart find the strength to look heavenward and say, “Thank you” during moments of doubt?

We can only say thank you when we understand who our Father is. We can only feel peace when we are aware of the blessing of hope. We can only whisper words of praise when we understand that the pain will not last forever.

We have a Father watching over us, and He has promised to be faithful and never leave us. He has given us the blessings of the sunrise and the sunset, the starry skies, and the changing seasons. He also knows when we need our heart to be held, and right at that moment He sends help to carry us through.

Who is your help today? The kind voice of a friend. A strong shoulder to lean on. A person to hold us close and dry our tears. The warm sunshine against our face. The rainbow painting the heavens with splendor.

Yes, even at the deepest point of our pain, God assures us that He is near, and we can face the day with hope! –C. Hinton

“A day without hope is a day without sunshine.” --Clara Hinton

“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” --Psalm 23:1

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