Still Grateful

Knowing God is the greatest joy of my life. Spending eternity in His presence is what keeps me going. There was a time when I didn't know why I existed or why my life was so hard. I became a Christian at a VBS program when I was 9 years old. They told me to read my Bible, pray, and go to church. I did that. I tried to be even better than I was before. I had a certain sense of peace that was new, but life was still miserable and I was certain that something was missing.

Everything changed during the summer that I was 15. A man named Greg helped his son Josh and his friend Adam put on a conference. Together, along with material from John Piper and RC Sproul, these men brought me face to face with the glory of God. For the first time in my life, the Scriptures that I had been underlining in the magazine style Bible my Mom had given me began to come together. I realized that the glory of God was what was missing from my Christianity. I remember being so glad to finally SEE, but also so mad that nobody had told me this before. I wondered how I had been a Christian for six years without being told the rest of the story (or really seeing it for myself).

From that moment on, I was sure to share what I had learned with anyone who would listen. I started my first blog after returning from that conference. Any chance I was given to turn the conversation or to lead a group always had me pointing people to the "WHY"  behind everything and the answer to the "Now what?" question that I had been struggling with for so long. I was grateful to those men for defining the glory of God and helping me to see that I was made to see that glory and savor it and declare it.

Nine summers later, I'm still grateful. My life and my Christianity were changed. I recently came across this post on Desiring God that took me right back to the moment when God opened my eyes:

A lot has changed over the last nine summers. In fact, I can hardly believe everything that has happened as I look back on them all. One thing remains them same, namely, the reality of the glory of God being the end all and be all of my life. My fight against sin continues, but that summer I learned that I don't fight alone. God is fighting with me and for me. He has given me everything I need and everything I'm striving for, in Himself. As I press on in Him, His glory is displayed.

"In love He predestined us for the adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved." 

Ephesians 1:5-6