How to Become Grateful for the Trial You Endure
No one just wakes up one morning and says, “Lord, I want to go through a trial today.” No one desires to walk through the bad seasons…the health problems, the fatal diagnoses, the losses, the depression. No one longs for suffering. But what if I told you the moments when you don’t think you can go on, those are the moments God has filled with hope, especially for those around you.
That was the case for my mom. During the height of COVID-19, she was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). A fatal neurodegenerative disease that makes its victims prisoners within their own bodies. It takes away the ability to walk, talk, eat, and eventually breathe. That’s definitely not a trial my mom chose to walk through. But it’s a trial the Lord helped her endure all the way to her death…all to bless me in the long run.
You see when I was sixteen, I turned away from the Lord. And for 10+ years I was searching to fill my emptiness in all the wrong places. As time went on, I started going to church again. But even then, my faith was empty. My mom knew this. And she wanted nothing more than for me to fully commit my life to Him. So, she prayed countless prayers. She invited me to church services every chance she got. Still, God hadn’t answered her prayers for me, even when she passed.
Church services didn’t change me.
Bible studies came up empty.
I was never truly redeemed.
But do you know what did touch me?
Watching my mom navigate a debilitating and fatal disease with unwavering faith and strength. Seeing her smiling and full of joy even when we had to spoon-feed her like a baby.
Hearing her last words as she incessantly prayed, “Thank you, Lord, in Jesus’ name,” on her deathbed.
It was through those moments and countless others that I was forever changed.
I felt hope by witnessing how she faced the hardest trial of her life with peace, joy, and strength that just didn’t add up to me at the time.
I wanted what she had.
It wasn’t until months after my mom’s final breath here on Earth that I realized just what she had. A deep, supernatural relationship with the Lord. It was then, that I started seeking true redemption in the Lord, and what I found in the Lord has forever changed my life.
Grateful for Life’s Trials
That’s why I’m forever grateful for life’s trials—even when those trials mean losing the closest person to you on Earth. If my mom hadn’t relied on the Lord to give her the strength to navigate her final trial with unwavering faith, I wouldn’t have longed for what she had.
Witnessing my mom reflect God’s peace and joy as she handled such a horrific trial gave me hope. Hope that led to my redemption.
So I’ll leave you with something to ponder, whether it’s now or the next time you’re face down on the floor in tears, screaming to God, “Why me? Why this? Why now?”
What if your suffering could be someone else’s redemption story?
What if your trial is meant to bless someone else?
Would you navigate your trial differently if so?
When you feel worn as your trial abounds, remember, there is someone out there who will be forever grateful for the Lord’s power they encounter through the trial you’re facing. You may not witness the fruits of your trial, but God sees and knows. And the people you touch along the way, they know.
Meet Michelle Givens
Michelle Givens is an eager, over-achieving entrepreneur who learned through losses, failure, and burnout that God had different plans for her. She now shares stories of how the Lord has transformed her from relying on her own strength to fully depending on Him in the good, the bad, the hard, and the easy. She focuses on helping others to do the same with stories of what God has brought her through. If you like what you’ve read here, be sure to sign up for her newsletter. That is where she shares her latest stories and devotions.
Where to find her . . .
Begin Within is a series to inspire a year-round lifestyle of gratitude that will impact not only your own life, but the lives of your neighbors as well. Gratitude is a theme we talk about often around here because it ties so closely into other missional living rhythms. Practicing gratitude reminds to keep our hearts soft and expectant and our eyes open. Therefore, the more we embrace gratitude, the easier it becomes to truly see our neighbors and where we can join what God is already doing in our neighborhoods.
If you would like to contribute to Begin Within, you can find the submission guidelines here.
