While it’s easy to thank God when life is going great, learning to thank God through the trials we face is one of the hardest lessons Christians have to learn. At the beginning of 2025, I chose “stillness” as my word of the year, thinking that God was calling me to a season of resting in Him. Little did I know that instead of 2025 being a season of rest and restoration like I had hoped, the Lord has used this year to teach me how to be still and trust Him to lead me through the trials of life.

The past few years have been difficult, and though I hoped and prayed 2025 would be better, the difficulties only amplified. Nevertheless, God had a purpose in every single trial I’ve faced this year, and through allowing me to endure them, He has taught me how to thank Him in all circumstances, not just the good times.

Thanking God in the Midst of Losing a Loved One

As I’ve mentioned on Authoring Arrowheads a few times this year, I lost my favorite uncle back in February. Though he had a few health issues prior to being in the hospital, he ultimately died from something unrelated. For me, it was unexpected, and his death gutted me to my core. Because he was unmarried and did not have kids, he treated my sister, our cousin, and me like we were his children, and he had always felt like another father figure in my life. From the time I was born until I moved out of my parents’ house after getting married, I saw him at least once or twice a week. He had the loudest, craziest laugh in the world that could be described as an unhinged cackle, one that would get others laughing just as hard whenever they heard it. Now that his last laugh faded months ago, it feels like all the joy has been sucked out of family events.

How could I thank God for taking someone who meant so much to me?

I didn’t thank Him for months. To be honest, I was ticked off at God because my uncle’s death hit me like a slap in the face. He was barely past retirement age. My future kids (Lord willing) will never get to meet him. We loved him so much, and all of a sudden, he was gone. But then one day, some song came on when I was listening to Christian music on Spotify. I was mad at God, but I knew turning away from Him wouldn’t solve the problem, so I still communed with Him. The song was about Heaven, and it hit me that my uncle, who was a born again Christian, is now with Jesus. His back is not hurting anymore. He’s not struggling to breathe like he was in the hospital. He’s up there laughing with all of his family and friends that have gone on before him. As much as we miss him here, I’m sure he doesn’t want to come back to see us. It doesn’t feel like it here on earth when we’re in the midst of mourning, but he truly is in a better place. Scratch that, he’s in the best place he could possibly be, and because of that, I’ll get to see him again when the Lord calls me home. That’s something I can thank God for.

Thanking God When Doors Slam Shut

My husband has been on a mission to get a side gig going this year. He’s had several ideas, and went to lengths to pursue some opportunities, but doors ended up being slammed shut on every single one. Either gatekeepers for an industry wouldn’t call him back, or he’d get a few steps in on another opportunity only for something to come up that prevented his plans from going through. Because my uncle had just passed away, watching all these opportunities fall through for my husband was not helping my faith at all. So many other people we know can get loans or find good deals on equipment or whatever they need to get started, but all my husband experienced was roadblock after roadblock.

How could we thank God for not allowing us to move forward?

What we didn’t know is that God was purposely nixing all of the plans my husband had so that we could take on a bigger investment that would be presented to us further into the year. Before the opportunity arose, God allowed us to get certain things in order that we would have not been able to do if we had gotten involved in the other areas of business my husband had looked at. The Lord worked it out for our good, and even though this new avenue will not come without its challenges, it’s a business type we had already talked about before and we feel at peace about going forward with it. Now that God has led us in this direction, I thank Him for redirecting us away from the industries that we were pursuing and instead providing us with another opportunity that means much more to us. We never know what God has up His sleeve, so be patient, my friend. Keep moving forward in faith despite the closed doors and wait for God to open His for you. It’ll be worth the wait.

Thanking God Through Unusual or Unexpected Circumstances

Around the middle of the year, I got a notice in the mail that I had to report to perform my civic duty. No big deal, right? Um, no. It was quite a big deal for me. I had never received a summons before in my adult life, and of all places, I had to report to a location an hour away from home, in a city with heavy traffic. I’m terrified of driving in cities and avoid doing so at all costs. It was also for a period of three weeks straight. I had a full-on panic attack when I read the letter.

My car, bless her heart, has also decided to go rogue this year. Though I’ve had the car for 8 years, three out of four of my door latches have failed within the last six months, and after the most recent one messed up, we figured out it’s an issue that’s supposed to be covered under a recall that we didn’t know about, so we spent money we shouldn’t have to fix them. The brakes squeal intermittently and my husband, who’s a car guy, can’t figure out why they’re doing that. The fan runs randomly after the car’s been shut off for a while and we can’t figure out what’s causing that either. It leaked bad enough that there was a puddle in the back passengers’ foot when we had a week of rainstorms during the summer. My husband got that fixed, but the same day, he found out his car, which he loves and was trying to protect by parking it in his shop, was full of mold because of the combination of all the humidity and being sealed up indoors. He had to get it professionally cleaned.

How could we thank God when it seemed as if everything was going haywire?

I’m telling you, if there are slim odds that some random, negative thing will happen, it will happen to my husband and me. We’ve felt like Satan’s had a target on our backs for the past three years straight with all the things we’ve gone through. Mid-way through 2025, I started saying “this is par for the course” whenever new trials popped up, because at the rate it was going, the growing list of “unlikely scenarios” we experienced was laughable. But, even when all Hades breaks loose, we can still find things to thank God for.

We both prayed heavily for God to spare me from having to drive in the city for my civic duty, and He did. I didn’t have to show up for a single day during that three week period!

Despite all the issues going on with my car, God allowed us to drive it on our vacation last month, six hours away from home, and the old girl ran perfectly, even on the incline of the mountain roads.

Even though my husband was devastated when the interior of his car was covered in mold, he was able to have the day off from work the next day, find a local cleaner to take care of it, and get it cleaned for a price that was far less expensive than what we had anticipated.

Even when life sucks, and we begin to think we’ve hit rock bottom, God is still good. God is still working miracles when it seems that all hope is lost. God is still moving mountains for us when it seems as if we’re at a standstill. God is still making a way for us when it seems as if the only way forward is a treacherous road.

God is still good even when we face trials. Thank You, Lord, for being THE God whose plans are better than ours and who works all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

Talk to Me, Arrowheads!

What trials have you gone through that you thank God for now that you’re on the other side of them? Let me know in the comments!

Aim high, stay strong, and always hit your mark.

-Allyson 😀