Step By Step

   Today I am thankful. Every morning as I'm walking to class, I say a prayer over the day ahead of me. Lately, I have realized how often my prayers consist of me quickly asking God for things I want instead of thanking Him for everything He has already blessed me with. Obviously God desires for us to take our concerns and thoughts to Him, but it's equally important to take the time to thank Him for all that He has given us too. 

   This morning, I stopped and thought about how blessed I am and how God's hand has orchestrated every aspect of my life. I am abundantly blessed with more than I need. When I take a moment and stop focusing on the obstacles and tasks of the day, but instead praise God for everything He has put in my life and how He has used me to glorify Him, I am filled with His joy. Instead of being weighed down by my troubles and fears, I can walk confidently knowing God has already overcome them. I am able to welcome the day ahead of me and embrace all that it contains because my heart is full and my spirit is renewed in God's blessing.

   We have all faced challenges in our lives. We are faced with different struggles, temptations, and selfish desires everyday. We have times when we wander away from God and need His guidance to put us back on the right path. Sometimes, our doubts, fears, and bitterness can too easily close up our hearts. We need God to renew our spirits. Life can bring us to many different situations; some challenging, some difficult, some unexpected, but God has made us a promise.

  God has promised that we would never walk this path alone. He will always be there with us, every step of the way. There will be moments in life when we feel that God is very close and near to us and then there will be times when we feel far away from God and He will seem distant to us. How blessed we are though to be reassured that no matter how we feel, God is always with us. His presence doesn't come and go based on our feelings, He is constant. He desires for us to go to Him and trust that He knows what is best for us. 

   As we continue to seek God, we will stop noticing how weak we are or how overwhelmed we are because our focus will be on Him. Instead of worrying about what the future holds, we can trust in the fact that God has created each moment we will experience and know that He planned it that way because He loves us and cares for us. He, alone, knows what is best for us and what we need. Even though the future is unknown to us, God knows every detail about it because He created it. We have no reason to fear.

   

   "But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation."- Psalm 13:5

God asks us to trust Him with our lives, to put our lives in His hands and know that He has a purpose for each of us. Life can be overwhelming, especially when we start to worry about the future, but God asks us to simply take life one day at a time. 

   Focus only on this day and rejoice in it, knowing that God is walking with you step by step. Don't lose hope, continue this journey. Trust that this path you are walking on is headed for heaven and you can be assured that God is guiding you every step of the way, filling each step with purpose.