Finding Joy in the Storm: Embracing Gratitude Through God's Grace
For the longest time, I’ve struggled with expressing my emotions to God. I somehow convinced myself that when I come before Him, I should have nothing to complain about—that my prayers must always be filled with joy and thankfulness. As a result, especially during times of sadness, I became good at invalidating my emotions. Instead of bringing my feelings to God, I would try to handle everything on my own. I put up a front, forgetting that God is more than willing to walk alongside me—even through the messiness of my emotions. I also forget that God is all-knowing. He already knows what I’m going through and how I’m truly feeling, so there’s no point in trying to hide it from Him.
What I truly desire is real joy, but I’ve learned that authentic joy is found in God’s presence, not in pretending that everything is fine.
It’s easy for me to get caught up in the brokenness of this world. When I’m struggling, my attention locks onto the storm I’m in—or the one I fear is coming. In these moments, I forget to turn my eyes to God and lose sight of the many blessings He’s given me.
Jon Bloom writes, “Cultivating thankfulness is not easy. We all need help, and thank God help is available. But there is no thankfulness hack—no four easy steps to a grateful heart. It’s as hard as habit-building. We begin to train our heart-eyes to look for God’s grace—in all circumstances. This looking must become habitual. And habits are built by doing them every day. We get incrementally better at them as the days gradually accumulate to months, and months to years. They become more and more a part of us over time.”
Gratitude, it turns out, is a discipline—one I have to build intentionally, day by day. It’s not easy, but the more I remind myself of the Gospel, the more I realize there is always something to be thankful for. When I think of Jesus and the cross, I’m reminded of how great His love for me truly is. He didn’t have to come to earth, suffer, and die for my sins, but He chose to. That kind of love changes everything, and it reminds me that no matter how difficult life gets, there’s always a reason to rejoice.
The writer of Hebrews says, “Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). The joy that was set before Him led Jesus through unimaginable suffering, and He endured it for us. Likewise, Philippians 4:4 encourages us to, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” The joy Paul speaks of isn’t based on circumstances but is a deep contentment rooted in trust in the sovereign, living God—available always, even in the hardest times. Joy is possible because God is faithful, and He keeps His promises.
So, I’m learning. Learning that even in my hardest moments, I can choose gratitude because God is with me. I can rejoice because His love is constant and His promises are true. Joy isn’t about pretending everything is okay. It’s about looking to Jesus, the source of all joy, and letting Him carry me through the storms, just as He has carried me to this moment.
There is always something to be thankful for.
Here are just a few examples of things I am grateful for:
I am grateful for our TLCs (Teens Leading Communities) who help with our kids' program. I also get to watch them grow individually, both as people and as leaders.
I am grateful to God for bringing the children to our program and for the various activities we get to do together.
I am grateful for all the support we receive in running our programs. Here are our EPIC tutors! (we are missing a few)
