Thanksgiving When Your Heart Aches
My husband and I had a miscarriage this year. It was, by far, one of the most trying and painful experiences of my life and of our marriage. So many emotions rattled around inside of me: sadness, guilt, worry, anger,…
Where does thankfulness come in during a season such as this? How do you reconcile what you’re feeling with what God’s word tells you?
I can tell you that for me, personally, I made sure that I stayed in the Bible every day, especially during this time of grief. I know this sounds trite, but I’m so very serious. It was my lifeline some mornings. I would get up first thing, sneak out of my bedroom, read my portion for that day, and spend some serious time in prayer to my Lord, my Comforter, my Support, my Rock, my Refuge. I would think about WHO GOD IS and relate it to what was happening in my life.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 says, "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."
As I looked at what I went through, I asked myself: who was the enemy? God came that we may have LIFE and have it more abundantly, while Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). So when I had doubts about why everything happened, I remembered that God didn’t kill my child. God gave that child eternal life in heaven. As I meditated on WHO God is and studied the truths He has given me in the Bible, I was able to come to a place of thankfulness. God rescued my child from death and restored him or her to eternal life. God is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:18). My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is my portion forever (Psalm 73:26). These are reasons to be thankful!
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 says, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
God reminded me, even in this intensely painful time of my life, that this world is temporary. It is not my home. I should not get too comfortable here because it will be over before we know it, and my eternity… my ETERNITY is with Him, the God who loves me! And I will be with my loved ones for the rest of time! I am not making light of the situation in any way, but it helps me to see the larger picture.
One of my favorite verses is James 1:17, which says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” While there may be bad things that happen as long as we live in this fallen world, EVERY good and perfect gift comes our heavenly Father who loves us more than we can even fathom. Instead of seeing the bad, open your eyes to the good and the perfect gifts He has given to you because you are His daughter and He loves you!
It’s all about fixing our eyes. Fix your eyes on things above, not on earthly things (Colossians 3:2). Change your focus. As long as you stare at your problems, they grow. When you focus on the One who makes all things new, who gives life, who loves you enough to die for you, you will see His fingerprints all over your life and won’t have any choice but to be thankful.
Jennifer Goldstein
Jennifer is a lover of the Lord, a wife, a stay-at-home mom of two (a 15 month old and 10 year old), and a former teacher. Some of her favorite things are reading, chocolate, and road trips. Jennifer is part of the original Agape Moms in Lithia, FL.