Thankful.

Giving thanks. Thankfulness.

It is one thing to follow God's plan for your life; listening and hoping for direction and guidance along the way. And another thing completely to start on the path God has laid out - giving THANKS for every struggle, challenge, obstacle, and failure along the way. You can reach out to God for guidance on your path without first giving thanks. But in doing so, you miss out on experiencing God's full glory in your situation. 

There is beauty in the struggle.

Raw, painful, faith-stretching beauty. There will never be a path God leads you down that won't encounter obstacles. These obstacles are a part of the journey, an element of the experience that God uses to help us grow. To beg for a way out - or a quick fix - is like telling God you don't really need the lesson. You have a better idea. You can find a solution if He doesn't. I mean, who put Him in charge anyway? And then commences the struggle for control. And we lose focus, we lose strength, we lose faith. 

Imagine this: what if by embracing challenges with a thankful heart, we can fully experience God's presence in our struggle. In our life.

Without struggle, there would be no progress. Without struggle, there would be no growth. Without struggle, our journey would not lead to the destination God has planned for us - and His plans are perfect. Although we may not see perfection in the midst of the struggle, He is perfectly shaping us. 

"His secret purpose framed from the very beginning [is] to bring us to our full glory." 

                                                                                                   - 1 Corinthians 2:7

I need to learn to be thankful for the struggle. We ALL need to learn this lesson actually. Not to be thankful despite the struggle, but to truly thank God for it all. The challenges, heartache, sickness, disappointment, confusion, devastation - all of it. And not to thank him after the fact... once the dust settles and we begin to see more clearly. Thankfulness begins with the eyes of faith, to praise Him in the midst of the mess. For the mess. It's in the midst of it all that God can truly move us and form us into the person we're meant to be. 

It ends well. And if you must, repeat that to yourself as you PRAISE God for the struggle. It's through this thankfulness that we receive God's grace in a new and fresh way. Is this not our heart's cry? 

"How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God." -Psalm 84:1-2

Giving thanks. Thankfulness to the Lord. For all of His grace, for every struggle, through all things. And maybe this will be our key - the one that unlocks the door of our hearts, allowing us to fully experience our living God in ALL of His glory.