Lois's Writing

How can we praise God in everything, including the hardtimes?  The key is God's sovereignty.  We must remember that God is in control.  Even when it seems as if the world is in total chaos, we can trust that God is still Lord of everything.

So, when we think about giving God thanks for all things, the key is to be able to see him actively working in all things.  I you can't see Him in everything, you can't thank Him for everything.

If God is at work in everything--in both the good and the bad times--and if He causes all things to work together for good for those who love Him, then we can be assured that our hardships can and will produce good fruit in our lives.  Knowing that our troubles are part of God's larger plan for us, we can be grateful and thank Him for leading us down the bumpy roads.

Does this make the sting of hardship any less painful?  Sadly, it does not alleviate pain all the time.  However, because God is at work, we can nonetheless rejoice that He is using the hard times to bring us to spiritual maturity.

As we learn in the Bible, our trials result in endurance. (James 1:2-3) The next verse goes on to say, " And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."  This means that the difficulties and haradships we encounter are important.  They are often the very tools God uses to bring us into a closer, more intimate relationship with Christ.  And that, my friend, is worth the price.

L. J.