Gratitude in Hard Seasons: Seeing God’s Goodness When Life Feels Heavy

I’m not rational when it comes to personal struggles. At work, I can see problems clearly, take everything into account, and work with a team to find a solution. But when it comes to my personal life, it’s a different story. I tend to carry everything alone, convinced that my problems are mine to bear. But if I can trust my team to work through challenges together at work, why can’t I trust God to do the same in my personal life? Why do I struggle to lean on the people He has placed in my life for support?

Faith is not about always having the answers; it’s about trusting God. Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." That can be a hard lesson to accept because, as humans, we crave control. We want to understand why things happen, why pain exists, and why life sometimes feels so unfair.

Life is full of challenges and struggles, and at times, we all find ourselves in need of hope. Psalm 145:9 tells us, "The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works." Yet when we are in the midst of difficulty, it can be hard to see and trust in that goodness. Isaiah 40:31 reminds us, "But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." These verses assure us that even in the hardest seasons, God is working for our good, even when we don’t understand it.

I have learned from personal experience that trusting God means embracing unanswered questions. I naturally want to understand everything—to know what’s going on so I can feel like I have control. But real faith requires surrendering that desire and choosing to believe that even when we don’t see the full picture, God is working behind the scenes.

There have been times in my life when gratitude felt completely out of reach. When my parents passed away five years apart, when I lost a job I had for a decade because of my alcoholism, when COVID shut down everything, I found myself questioning God. "Where is He in all of this? Why would He allow this to happen?" I didn’t always turn to Him in those moments. In fact, sometimes I ran in the opposite direction.

God calls us to cast our anxiety on Him (1 Peter 5:7) and to rely on His people for support. Yet, being vulnerable is difficult. It’s hard to believe in something we can’t see or touch. It’s even harder to admit when we’re struggling because saying it out loud makes it real.

For years, I stuffed my pain down. I avoided vulnerability, convinced that pretending everything was fine was the better option. But burying my struggles didn’t make them disappear—it only made them manifest in other ways. In college, it was an eating disorder. In adulthood, it was alcoholism. The weight of carrying it all on my own led me into places of darkness and destruction. But looking back now, I realize that even in those moments, God never left me.

So how do we cultivate gratitude when life feels anything but good?

1. Shift Your Focus to Who God Is, Not What You’re Facing
   Christianity isn’t about us—it’s about who Christ is and what He has done. He is constant, even when our circumstances are unstable.

2. Recognize Two Truths: Christ is Lord, and Life is Hard
   We live in a broken world where pain and loss are unavoidable. But we also serve a God who redeems and restores. When we feel beaten down, confused, and afraid, we must look to the One who saves.

3. Practice Surrender, Even When It Feels Unnatural
   Letting go of control is hard, but God calls us to trust Him. That trust doesn’t mean everything will suddenly be easy, but it does mean we aren’t carrying the weight of our burdens alone.

Looking back at my hardest moments, I can now see how God was there all along. Even when I didn’t seek Him, even when I tried to handle everything on my own, He never left my side. And if you’re walking through a difficult season right now, I promise you’re not alone either.

We are called to cling to hope in Christ, not in our circumstances. Our true home and purpose are not here; they are still to come. Even when life feels overwhelming, God’s goodness is still present. Even when gratitude feels impossible, we can trust that His plans are greater than anything we can see.

Have faith. Hold on. He is with you.