Thankful for the Trials That Built the Table

Thanksgiving is a season where we naturally look around and count our blessings. We thank God for our families, our homes, the food before us and the moments that made our year meaningful. But there is a deeper dimension of gratitude, one that doesn’t just thank God for the visible blessings, but for the process that shaped us, humbled us and prepared us.

Many people associate thanksgiving and celebration with big monumental moments, virality, applause, IG notifications…

But I have a different perspective this year. 

What if the things you lost, the trials, the tribulations and the testing of your faith, are really what built the table God has prepared for you to sit at?

We think the blessings are “things.”
But when we get the things, our peace and joy grow wings.
They’re fleeting.

The truth is this:
The table God sets for you is often built from the very trials you prayed to escape.





Four perspective shifts to consider:

🤎 The Trials Were Tools in God’s Hands.

God never wastes pain. Every hardship becomes lumber in His hands. When surrendered, it becomes a tool, a brick, a nail — building something better than we could’ve designed for ourselves.

Think about Joseph: falsely accused, thrown into prison, betrayed by those he trusted and loved. Yet every hardship was positioning him, creating character and preparing him for purpose. 

When he finally sat at the table God built, he could look back and say: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.” -Genesis 50:20

Your story isn’t any different. What the enemy tried to use to break you, God will use to build you.


🤎 The Table Is Set in the Presence of Your Enemies.

Psalm 23:5 is a Thanksgiving Scripture if there ever was one:
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.”

Not in the absence of enemies. 
Not after everything makes sense. 
But in the middle of it.

The table God prepares for you is not just a place of blessing; it’s a display of God’s faithfulness. It’s His presence and peace in the midst of whatever circumstances you are in. It’s proof that no attack, no betrayal, no season of setback can stop the destiny on your life.

- Every tear waters the ground of your future.
- Every closed door redirects you toward God’s perfect will.
- Every dry season teaches you dependence.
- Every wilderness develops your spiritual muscles and maturity.


🤎 Thanksgiving Is a Weapon.

When we give thanks, especially for things that deeply wounded us, something shifts spiritually. Gratitude breaks chains. It breaks bitterness. It breaks the lie that God abandoned you in the hard moments.

It’s the revelation that God was working even when you couldn’t see it. Being thankful for the trials doesn’t validate what happened. It validates the power of the God who carried you through it.

It means you recognize that without those trials:
- You wouldn’t be as strong.
- You wouldn’t be as wise.
- You wouldn’t discern like you do now.
- You wouldn’t pray like you pray now.
- You wouldn’t appreciate blessings the way you do now.

The trials didn’t break you; they built you.


🤎 Your Table Is Proof of God’s Intentionality.

When God prepares a table, it’s not thrown together carelessly or haphazardly. It’s intentional. Personal. Thought-out. Designed specifically for you.

And the beauty is this:
Every trial, every disappointment, every delay has purpose.

Nothing was wasted. God used it all to craft a table where you don’t just eat, you testify.


This Thanksgiving, thank God for the journey that got you here.

- The trials that matured you.
- The storms that pushed you closer to Him.
- The losses that taught you what truly matters.
- The waiting seasons that strengthened your faith.
- The prayers He didn’t answer because He has something better.
- The times you thought you were breaking but you were actually becoming.

This year, thank Him not just for the table…
but for everything He used to build it.

What are you grateful for this year?

Happy Thanksgiving 🤎
- Carly Lynn // @car1ylynn