I sat at Thanksgiving dinner last year forcing a smile while my world was falling apart.
Unemployment. A parent’s dementia diagnosis. A friendship that had imploded two weeks earlier.
And everyone around the table taking turns sharing what they were thankful for while I struggled to think of anything besides “I’m thankful this day will eventually end.”
That’s when my niece, who knew what I was going through, quietly slid me a note across the table: 1 Thessalonians 5:18. “Give thanks in all circumstances.”
I wanted to crumple it up.
Instead, that verse became the beginning of the hardest spiritual practice I’ve ever attempted: learning to find things to thank God for when everything feels thankless.
This isn’t about toxic positivity or pretending hard times aren’t hard.
It’s about discovering that thanksgiving during trials does something gratitude in easy seasons never can.
It anchors you to truth when feelings lie.
Why Thanksgiving Matters More in Hard Times
Thanksgiving when life is good is easy. Everyone’s grateful when circumstances are favorable.
But Scripture commands thanksgiving specifically during trials, not just during blessings.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, English Standard Version (ESV)
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
“In all circumstances.” Not just good ones. All of them.
That sounds cruel when you’re suffering.
But here’s what I learned through forced practice: thanksgiving during hardship isn’t about denying pain.
It’s about refusing to let pain have the final word about God’s character.
When you thank God during trials, you’re declaring His goodness is bigger than your circumstances. That’s faith in its purest form.
The Difference Between Thanksgiving FOR Trials and IN Trials
This distinction changed everything for me.
God doesn’t command you to be thankful FOR the trial. You don’t have to thank God FOR unemployment, FOR betrayal, FOR loss, FOR suffering.
He commands you to be thankful IN the trial.
That means finding things to thank Him for while you’re still in the middle of what’s breaking you.
Romans 8:28, New International Version (NIV) provides the foundation:
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
You can thank God that He’s working for your good even when you can’t see how yet.
You can thank Him for His presence even when you don’t feel it.
You can thank Him for His character even when circumstances contradict His goodness.
That’s thanksgiving IN trials, not FOR them.
7 Thanksgiving Scriptures That Sustained Me
These verses became lifelines during my hardest season.
Not because they made problems disappear but because they gave me true things to anchor to when everything felt untrue.
1. Psalm 34:1 – Choosing Praise Before Feeling It
“I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.”
David wrote this after pretending to be insane to escape King Achish.
He was desperate, terrified, and humiliated. Yet he chose to bless God anyway.
What sustained me: This verse gave me permission to praise God before I felt like it. “I will bless the Lord” is a decision, not an emotion. I started each morning forcing myself to say out loud: “I bless You, God, for being good even when I don’t feel You’re good.”
The feelings caught up eventually. But the choice came first.
2. Habakkuk 3:17-18 – Thanksgiving Despite Everything
“Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls—yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.”
Habakkuk describes total economic collapse. Everything failing. Yet his response is “yet I will rejoice.”
What sustained me: This became my “even if” prayer. “Even if I don’t get another job. Even if this relationship never heals. Even if my parent’s health doesn’t improve. I will still rejoice in You, God, because You’re my salvation regardless of circumstances.”
That prayer didn’t fix anything. But it fixed my perspective.
3. Philippians 4:6-7 – Thanksgiving as Anxiety Treatment
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
Paul directly connects thanksgiving with reduced anxiety. Pray with thanksgiving, receive peace.
What sustained me: When anxiety about my situation spiraled, I forced myself to list things to thank God for before asking for anything. “Thank You for this roof over my head. Thank You I have food today. Thank You my parent still knows my name.”
The anxiety didn’t vanish. But it loosened enough that I could breathe.
4. James 1:2-4 – Finding Purpose in Trials
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
James says trials test your faith, producing endurance that makes you mature and complete.
What sustained me: I couldn’t thank God FOR my trials. But I could thank Him that He wouldn’t waste them. “God, I hate what I’m going through. But thank You that You’re using this to make me more like Jesus. Don’t let me waste this suffering by refusing to grow through it.”
That prayer made the pain purposeful instead of random.
5. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 – Thanksgiving for Future Ministry
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
Paul explains that God comforts you in your suffering so you can comfort others later from your experience.
What sustained me: I started thanking God in advance for the people I’d be able to help because I’d survived what I was currently going through. “Thank You that this pain won’t be wasted. Thank You I’ll be able to comfort someone else someday who’s walking this same road.”
That transformed my suffering from pointless to purposeful.
6. Psalm 107:1 – Thanksgiving Based on Character, Not Circumstances
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.”
This verse grounds thanksgiving in God’s character, not your circumstances.
What sustained me: When I couldn’t find anything in my circumstances to be thankful for, I thanked God for who He is. “Thank You that You’re good even when nothing feels good. Thank You Your love endures forever even when everything else is falling apart.”
God’s character doesn’t change based on my circumstances. That became bedrock truth I clung to.
7. Romans 5:3-5 – Thanksgiving for Proven Character
“And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
Paul outlines the progression: tribulation produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, character produces hope.
What sustained me: I thanked God for the character being built through what I was enduring. “Thank You for making me stronger. Thank You I’m learning perseverance I’d never develop in easy seasons. Thank You this is building hope that won’t disappoint.”
That gave long-term perspective when short-term circumstances felt hopeless.
How to Practice Thanksgiving When You Don’t Feel Thankful
Theory is easy. Practice is brutal. Here’s how I actually applied thanksgiving during my hardest season.
Start with one thing daily. I couldn’t generate elaborate gratitude lists. So I committed to one thing every morning. “Today I’m thankful for coffee and that I woke up.” Some days that was all I had. It was enough.
Thank God for what hasn’t happened. When I couldn’t find current blessings, I thanked God for disasters He’d prevented. “Thank You I still have housing. Thank You my health is stable. Thank You I’m not facing worse than this.”
Thank God for past faithfulness. I made a list of times God had sustained me through previous hard seasons. When present faithfulness felt absent, past faithfulness became evidence He’d sustain me again.
Thank God out loud. Silent thankfulness stayed in my head and got lost in anxious thoughts. Spoken thanksgiving forced me to hear truth with my own ears.
Don’t wait for feelings. I never felt thankful first. I spoke thanksgiving as an act of will, and feelings sometimes followed. Sometimes they didn’t. Either way, I’d obeyed.
What Thanksgiving Does That Nothing Else Can
Here’s what happened through forced thanksgiving practice during my worst season.
Thanksgiving didn’t fix my circumstances.
I was still unemployed for months. My parent’s condition didn’t improve. The friendship didn’t heal.
But thanksgiving fixed my focus.
Instead of obsessing over what was wrong, I was forced daily to identify what was still right.
Instead of spiraling into despair, thanksgiving anchored me to truth about God’s character.
It didn’t make hard times easy. But it made hard times bearable.
And when I finally emerged from that season, I realized thanksgiving had built something in me that prosperity never could: unshakeable confidence that God’s goodness isn’t dependent on my circumstances.
That’s worth more than any blessing I asked for and didn’t receive.
A Thanksgiving Prayer for Hard Seasons
Father, I’m in the middle of something hard and I don’t feel thankful. I feel angry, scared, and exhausted. But I’m choosing right now to thank You anyway. Not for what I’m going through, but for who You are in the middle of it.
Thank You that You’re good when nothing feels good. Thank You Your love endures when everything else is falling apart.
Thank You You’re working for my good even when I can’t see how. Thank You You won’t waste this pain. Thank You You’re building character, perseverance, and hope through what’s breaking me. Thank You for what You’ve prevented that could have made this worse.
Thank You for past faithfulness when present faithfulness feels invisible. I don’t understand why I’m going through this. But I trust You’re still good, still loving, and still working. Help me thank You daily even when I don’t feel it.
In Jesus’s Name, Amen.
References
Elliot, E. (2006). Suffering Is Never for Nothing. B&H Publishing Group. [Book]
Keller, T. (2013). Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering. Dutton. [Book]
Peterson, E. H. (2005). The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language. NavPress. [Bible Translation]
Piper, J. (2015). When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight for Joy. Crossway. [Book]
Strong, J. (2010). Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Hendrickson Publishers. [Reference Book]
Voskamp, A. (2010). One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are. Zondervan. [Book]
Yancey, P. (1988). Disappointment with God: Three Questions No One Asks Aloud. Zondervan. [Book]
