"An Artist's Walk with God"

God speaks to being thankful in every situation. But what if we are just “not in the mood”, or angry, or too scared to be thankful.  I have been there.  I did not want to be in that place, but emotions took over and I just could not be thankful. 

About three months ago, I started doubting God was still with me in the way I felt before.  I tried to reach out to Him, and He seems so far away from me.  My life was upside down and the last thing I wanted to be was thankful!!!  I wanted to actually cry.  God did not move away from me; it was me that moved further away from God!!!

It was like I was backwards in my thinking.  I felt that since I was not happy, more scared, that God was further away from me, and He was right there waiting for me to have the faith to just go to Him in prayer.   

You see when our soul has been wounded in some way, do to not always feel like being thankful or asking God to heal us, we stomp our feet and resist.  I guess I expected my life to always be easy and peaceful without challenges and that is just not that way it is.  We will have tears, we will have pain, but we do not need to walk alone!!

God says in Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  Oh these are strong powerful words.  When I was reminded of this verse in the Bible, I took off my heavy stomping shoes and grabbed a paint brush and painted some flowers in my journal. Nothing like the healing power of painting that reminds me of God’s love. 

 Sometimes all we can do is be thankful that God is getting us through a situation and sustaining us daily.  You see, I was trying to be strong and control the situation and forgot that all I had to do is give my struggle to God.  I KNEW this, but in the moment, I just needed reminded.

I repeated that verse over and over again until it started to become real to me. The more God heals our soul, the more thankful and trusting we can become.  Each day I felt new wholeness and peace. What I feel God was gently reminding me was that He wants me to be thankful in every situation.   Almost like a routine of thankfulness, not just being thankful when we are struggling.  I once heard someone say…. “Pray your way through the day!”

As I look at my painting, I want to be reminded to be thankful for HIS peace and blessings so that when struggles DO happen, I am at peace before the event to handle every day.