A Prayer for a Thankful Heart through a Disappointing Season
By Keri Eichberger
Bible Reading
“Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” - Lamentations 3:22-23
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When referring to encountering extremely trying situations, a dear friend once encouraged me, “Continue to focus on the blessings. It helps.” Thankfulness. Allison was reminding me to focus on how God was showing up in my life–what I had to be thankful for. And coming from someone weathering a storm of disappointment and difficulty that is one of my worst nightmares as a wife, the words held immense weight in my mind’s eye. She had been hard-living the wise words she’d spoken while walking through a struggle beyond my imagination as her husband and father of their two young kids battled stage four colon cancer. My hard season was mostly related to a major money disappointment, of all things. Truly trivial in comparison.
But you probably know it doesn’t matter the severity or source of the difficult road you’re driving down or what giant elements are barraging your path. Big or seemingly small, when you feel like you are falling fast down a bumpy slope of a valley of persistent pain and disappointment, it’s so easy to get wrapped up in the tough of it. And it is really hard to radiate with joy, set your eyes on thankfulness, and sing God’s praises in the midst.
However, that is precisely what we should do; that is exactly what initiates the relief we are longing for. A thankful heart. I think by now, as Christians, most of us have received this suggestion over and over again. The Bible certainly reminds us repeatedly to give thanks to God, praise the Lord, and sing “hallelujah” to the King of Kings. But if you’re like me, you almost feel a force within resisting these holy gestures when your heart hurts. And I think Satan and his sneaky schemes are behind this.
The best I can do is bring truth back to our attention to fight back and encourage us yet again. The enemy is trying to keep you focused on what’s hard and bad and scary. Seriously, if you started to pay attention to God’s blessings—if you affirmed your confidence today that because of the Lord’s great love, you will not be consumed, that his compassions will never cease to flow over you each morning, and that he is forever faithful—to the point you actually noticed you do have tons to be thankful for regardless of the storm. And you then gained greater joy because of this. The enemy would lose ground so fast.
So he persists. But the thing is, God is greater and stronger, and he wins. And all those affirmations about his love, blessings, and faithfulness are as true as they’ve ever been and will always be. We absolutely do have so much to be thankful for. Every day. His compassions are currently being cast all over and around you. I pray that you and I will resist the enemy’s attempt to drag us into thoughts of defeat and open our eyes in thankfulness to God’s many provisions of care, comfort, and compassion today. I pray you will open your eyes to him today while he holds your hand and heart through all the hard stuff surrounding you. Let’s choose thankfulness. It absolutely does help, dear friend.
Let’s Pray:
Faithful God, Your mercies are indeed new each day and every morning. So great is your faithfulness. So wonderful are your compassions that continually cover me and all that surrounds me. I admit I keep finding myself swelling with defeat and discouragement in the midst of such disappointment. But Lord, I want to be filled up with thankfulness. I want to focus hard on the blessings you bestow through it all. I know if I keep my eyes on you and all your good gifts, my thankfulness will fuel the flame of joy and hope that feels smothered by the world. And Lord, how I want your light to shine so bright in my soul. How I long for your light to shine bright to and through the world that desperately needs it. I am so thankful for all that you are and grateful for all that you do. In your gracious name, Amen.
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