Have you ever had the thought, “If I only could see the big picture, I would be at peace” or “if God would only show me the destination, the path forward would feel so much easier”? I think we have all felt that way at one time or another. High schoolers may feel that way about choosing a college or career path, single people wonder about getting married, and those in recovery long for a timeline and a place of freedom. Inquiring minds want to know, “where are we going? How long will it take? What is the path from here to there? Is that even what I want?” While it is not wrong to want the bigger picture, often that is not how life works. Our human minds yearn for clarity and understanding. We think that if we just had a little more information, it would make all the difference in our journey. God in His love and wisdom knows just the opposite. The truth is our human minds cannot handle a bird’s eye view of our lives.

If God had told me five years ago that I would be leading prayer ...

Are you grateful?

Most of us would probably answer, “Yes”.  But how grateful are we?

It’s easy to be grateful during good times, when life is going beautifully- relationships are joyful and enriching, we’re productive at work, we’re healthy, and fruitful in our ministry. But are we also grateful when life starts to spiral downward; fractured relationships, health concerns, not feeling needed, or doubting our purpose.

Gratitude is a way of life, not just being thankful when life is going well, then being ungrateful when life is hard.

We must make an intentional choice to be grateful.

This can be challenging when life’s stressors escalate. We need an attitude of gratitude that is not dependent on our circumstances.

So how can we cultivate gratitude?

We need to develop a heart posture of humility; being thankful for the Lord’s provision. He knows exactly what we need and when we need it. He has blessed us far more than we deserve, so let’s focus on His bounty instead of what we ...