"THANK YOU"

I just got done spending some really awesome time with God reading His Word along with another book about drawing closer to Him. As I closed both, I was filled with the overwhelming urge to thank my Heavenly Father and Sovereign Creator for all He has brought me through and even taken me through in my life.

Some things I've endured as a result of young, foolish choices, but some trials in the past years, I know, had His fingerprints caked all over them. They were His way of giving me the desperation I needed to run to Him with all my might. It's through these trials in particular that I'm finding the most purpose and thanks for. These are the seasons I had my eyes WIDE open to God so I could navigate to find my very next step and, in turn, come to understand what His purpose was in it all. I found I had more peace, satisfaction, joy, and love amidst the crazy winds stirring about me when I was desperate to just get to the heart of the lesson He wanted me to embrace and to seek Him out the whole time. All along, His ultimate goal was to bring me in closer and closer to Him...so I could know Him better, see Him in brilliant, living color, hear Him in captivating surround-sound, and feel His love for real. This, it seems, is always His goal.

I have come into the practice of thanking God for every road I've tread on and for every season I have buckled down to endure. It's in light of thanks and reflection that I have developed the ability to now see Him in every situation and type of weather I face. I see His glimmering Son amidst carefree, brilliantly breezy days and I even see Him peeking through the greatest hurricanes. I thank the Lord for making my life unbearably uncomfortable at times so I'd only find comfort under His wings and company. Don't get me wrong, I still, of course, absolutely love the perfectly beachy days more than those I get caught in the rain with no warning and no umbrella, spiritually speaking. It's also a lot easier to be thankful once the storm has cleared, I've dried off, and been warmed up by some sunny days. But, if we only said "thank You" when we felt like it, it wouldn't be a sacrifice and it'd probably never happen at all.

It isn't always easy to say those two simple words, but the more I do it and mean it, the easier it is. I thank my Father in Heaven for all of my life because today I stand tall in who I am and whose I am. I also thank Him for pulling me through, (though kicking and screaming at times), and drawing me closer to Him so I can share all I've learned with you.

Today I come as a little bird in your ear. God wants you to know He is RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE right now. He sees you in your greatest situations and in your smallest headaches. He sees and He cares...not only that, but He listens and acts. Please keep in mind: He does this in His own timing and way. After all, God's ways are certainly not ours and it's downright hard to understand them sometimes. Couldn't He just give us a "God Time" wristwatch to wear along with our "normal time" so we'd somewhat be in sync?? I guess not, or we'd never check in with Him. :)

Be encouraged today and be courageous enough to let Christ into every area you're facing, knowing all you are going through is not in vain; there is a purpose for it all. Be bold enough to step out and say "thank You" and mean it. He'll be delighted at your sacrificial gift, and you may find yourself surprisingly delighted in His reply. Watch for it and you will begin more and more to see God's purposes for His ways and celebrate the treasures He's given you as a reward for your trials and suffering. And always know I am right here, cheering you on... :)

"Then you called out to God in your desperate condition; He got you out in the nick of time. He spoke the word that healed you, that pulled you back from the brink of death. So thank God for His marvelous love, for His miracle mercy to the children He loves; offer thanksgiving sacrifices, tell the world what He's done—sing it out!" Psalm 107: 18-22 (The Message)

In Love,
Kate Marie