Say a Prayer of thanks…even in the hard days
I’m a fixer. For as long as I can remember, I always focused on taking care of everything around me and rarely did I ever take care of myself…that always came last. In this most recent season, I had no choice but to find a way to care for me as I was brought to my knees time and time again. On the days when I didn’t have the strength, I called on my prayer community to help me to stand. I have seen God work in ways that cannot be denied in this season and as I look back, it is not with regret or sadness but in recognition of the Blessings that have come from walking through this valley.
Today, I am part of that prayer community for someone going through her season. I shared with her today that she is the modern Job…a title none of us would desire. It has been one thing after the other, and if I were not a personal witness, I would find it hard to believe this was all happening to one person, to one family. This friend, the one who stood by me time and again, finds a way to get up and face the next day and the next with hope. She is the modern Job. She has not walked away from God, she has remained faithful, and she knows that on the other side of this there will be something amazing. I wish I could say I was able to be that way during my season. I am also not naive enough to say that her every moment is faced with hope for tomorrow, but she has faith and her faith has not failed her.
One of my other prayer sisters asked me to advise her to pray and give thanks to God for what has not happened, but that she speaks aloud and believes. She advised me the same…and here I am today, living in what I gave thanks to God before it became my reality. We all are familiar with the dark days of Job, but my favorite verse is that the “Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part” (Job 42:12, NIV). We are not promised an easy road, but we do have hope and peace in God.
Today, I pray that whether you are in the midst of your own season, or a support for someone else, that you hold on and walk through the valley. The riches and Blessings on the other side are well worth the struggles. Your testimony, your story, will help the next person go through their season.
