Thankful Hearts - Even in the Rain!

By: Melanie Moore

Thanksgiving will soon be here! It's hard to believe how quickly this year has flown by! Thanksgiving is always a special time of the year for me because it reminds me to stop and reflect on all of the wonderful ways God has blessed me throughout the year. 

Normally, when I count my blessings and all that I have to be thankful for, I look at all of the wonderful things in my life. God has blessed me with (first, and most importantly) His love and salvation in Christ, good health, a great family, stable job, warm house, an abundance of food, and the list could go on and on! There is no way that I could give an exhaustive list of all of the ways God has blessed me. 

However, something miraculous happened in my heart this past week. I realized that one of the most painful times in my life was actually one of God's greatest blessings to me! I was in a situation that was extremely painful, but now, looking back I can see that God used that situation to accomplish something even better in my life. I can also see that God worked in my heart during that season of complete and utter dependence on him. Some lessons we can only learn in times of pain, and I can see now, looking back that God taught me valuable lessons during that time that I will always carry with me.

Have you had that experience? It can be very difficult to see the beauty and purpose in life's seasons of pain and grief. However, it is my prayer that someday God will help us to see His hand at work in all of it -- even if it still doesn't make sense to us! -- so that we can thank him for being with us and at work in even the dark, hard circumstances.

This Thanksgiving, I pray that God will work in my heart to thank him for all of the ways he is working in my times of waiting, loneliness, and hardship. I want to not only thank God for the flowers -- I want to thank him for the rain too!