How To Make It Through Hard Times

One word…GRATITUDE.

Before you stop reading, give me a chance.

I’m not saying you should be grateful FOR the hard time. Obviously, having cancer or totaling your car is not something you should be thankful for (though someday you may be).

But the only way to make it through whatever trial you are going through with peace of mind is to practice active gratitude, even in the middle of it.

Job did this. Not many have ever experienced the horrible difficulty he went through. But in the middle of it all, after losing all of his wealth, the lives of his children, and his own health, he proclaimed: “May the name of the Lord be praised” (Job 1:21 NIV).

It’s what Paul was talking about in 1 Thessalonians 5:18: “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus” (NLT).

Paul did not say, “FOR all circumstances be thankful,” but, “IN all circumstances.”

Find what you have in your life that you are grateful for, and express thanksgiving for it. It might be people in your life. It might be a song on the radio. It might be the blue sky or the needed rain.

I began a practice many years ago that has been invaluable to me when facing adversity. One night, I could not sleep. I got up and it occurred to me that I needed to focus on the positive. So I pulled out a piece of paper and started writing down the good things in my life. I included my wife, my kids, my calling as a pastor, my car that was reliable (one was not), my paycheck, my house, central heat, clean clothes, food in the fridge and pantry, stars in the sky that night, the comfortable bed I had (that I wasn’t able to fall asleep in), friends who spoke into my life, the Bible to guide me; and on and on the list went. By the time I filled that sheet of paper, I was ready to go back to bed and I fell fast asleep.

That has since become a regular practice of mine. It works! The Bible works!

So if your car breaks down, or your job looks iffy, or you hear of someone slandering you, distract all those negative thoughts with the blessings in your life. It’s the thing that separates happy people from defeated people.

Because we all face hard times. But we also all have many more things to be grateful for.

Focus on that!