Thankful For The Trial
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What is Thanksgiving?
What is Thanksgiving?
THANKSGIVING (תּוֹדָה, todah; εὐχαριστία, eucharistia). The act of offering thanks or being thankful, usually to God. Often connected to provision, deliverance, or God’s character. Commonly associated in Scripture with meals and worship.
In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’ ”
Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord,
Responding to Our Trials...
Responding to Our Trials...
All of us have experienced bad news. We’ve all been through some rough patches in life. There are things for us to learn from our trials, and our attitude going through them. Hezekiah’s is the most appropriate, he humbled himself and he prayed.
This is the writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:
I said,
“In the prime of my life
I shall go to the gates of Sheol;
I am deprived of the remainder of my years.”
I said,
“I shall not see Yah,
The Lord in the land of the living;
I shall observe man no more among the inhabitants of the world.
My life span is gone,
Taken from me like a shepherd’s tent;
I have cut off my life like a weaver.
He cuts me off from the loom;
From day until night You make an end of me.
I have considered until morning—
Like a lion,
So He breaks all my bones;
From day until night You make an end of me.
Like a crane or a swallow, so I chattered;
I mourned like a dove;
My eyes fail from looking upward.
O Lord, I am oppressed;
Undertake for me!
How many times have we been like Hezekiah, already defeated by our trials. By the time we show up before the throne, we’re already overcome and riddled with anxiety. We struggle to understand all the work Jesus is doing behind the scene that we’re completely unaware of.
Behind the Scenes...
Behind the Scenes...
And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years.
The next time that you find yourself walking through a trial, remember that the Lord hears your prayers. Remember that He sees your tears, and remember that He’s making a way. Help is on the way!
“What shall I say?
He has both spoken to me,
And He Himself has done it.
I shall walk carefully all my years
In the bitterness of my soul.
O Lord, by these things men live;
And in all these things is the life of my spirit;
So You will restore me and make me live.
Indeed it was for my own peace
That I had great bitterness;
But You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption,
For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
For Sheol cannot thank You,
Death cannot praise You;
Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your truth.
The living, the living man, he shall praise You,
As I do this day;
The father shall make known Your truth to the children.
“The Lord was ready to save me;
Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments
All the days of our life, in the house of the Lord.”
Hezekiah’s prayers were answered! The Lord was giving him a longer life. We’re learning from Hezekiah that even in our trials there’s reason for thanksgiving.
I don’t know all the reason for Hezekiah’s trial. I don’t know all the reasons for our own trials, but I do know the One that works all things together for our good...
Indeed it was for my own peace
That I had great bitterness;
But You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption,
For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
King David said in the Psalms...
It is good for me that I have been afflicted,
That I may learn Your statutes.
Enter His Courts With Thanksgiving...
Enter His Courts With Thanksgiving...
Just like these great Kings of Israel so it is for us. Jesus is mindful of our struggles and He’s working something beautiful out of our ashes. Like those great Kings of old we can approach the throne of our Lord with thanksgiving in our heart and on our lips despite our circumstances.
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Count it all joy and give thanks in everything!
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,
Are you struggling today?
Are you brokenhearted today?
Can we pray with you?