As I work through writing my statement of thankfulness, my mind goes down different paths.  Too often, I think we fall into one of two ditches.  Either we go about trying to think everything is peachy and happy or we fall into the trap of griping and complaining through our days.

God’s Word gives us several examples of people who struggled through difficulties and learned to balance hardship with praise to God.  Many Psalms tell of pain and sorrow as well as hope and joy.  Psalm 42 is one.  The Psalmist shares his groaning, but keeps reminding himself to hope in God.

As I continue to work through how I believe I should live my life, I want to balance the truth of adversity with the goodness of God.  Passages like Psalm 42 help me to do just that.  Below is a portion of the passage.

Photo Credit: My friends David and Abby took this picture at the En Gedi Oasis in Israel.