Look back and thank God, then look forward and trust. I saw this on an Etsy pin today. It's a few words that sum up everything we need to do in life.

We make everything so complicated, but our journey through this life isn't supposed to be complicated.

GodFaithLoveTrustGratitudeHopeAcknowledgePurposeTimeBe stillHumblePraiseWordRelationship

Put God first.

Step out in faith.

Love because God first loved you.

Trust that He who loves you with a love that cannot be quantified has got your back.

Look back and see the things God did for you and it will fill you with gratitude.

Reminding yourself of what God did in the past will also remind you to settle your hope in Him - not yourself or anyone else.

Acknowledge Him in all you do. Give it to God, and do what He gives your hand to do.

There is a purpose to everything under heaven, and everything in your life is for your good and His Glory. Even if you cannot see it now.

There is a time for every purpose under heaven.

God's timing is perfect; wait on Him.

Be still and know that He is God. God is in control, and He will always be in control.

When God fills your life with good things from His riches in heaven, remember to remain humble before Him. Every good thing comes from God's hand.

Praise God for the life you get to live because of the sacrifice Jesus made for you. You have been saved and redeemed through Grace alone, not works.

Measure everything you do by finding the will of God in His Word. The Living God speaks to us through it, but we need to read it with the Holy Spirit so our hearts and the world cannot twist the message of God to our will or desires.

We are no longer bound by religion; we have a relationship with Jesus, and the Holy Spirit dwells within us to guide our steps through the Word. If we invest ourselves in this walk with Jesus, every step in the list up top becomes natural, second nature, because God is a part of us, and we are a part of God.

When we keep our eyes on Jesus, we walk in His steps. When we keep our eyes on the world, we take our eyes off Jesus, and our steps falter. We forget who we are in Jesus Christ and whose we are in Jesus Christ.

We are Children of the Living, Everlasting God. Through the blood of Christ, we have been washed clean of our sins and redeemed. We have been made Holy to enter the presence of God safely and at will. What a thing to be grateful for. That we can enter the presence of God whenever we want and it is safe to do so.

In the days before Jesus, only the holy priests could enter the presence of God without dying and only with a sacrifice of blood to wash away their sins. Now we have been made Holy through the blood of Christ to enter the presence of God. And even better, the Holy Ghost lives inside us. We are a holy priesthood and a temple of God. God did all of this for us so that not one of His children would stay behind. Jesus came after us, and He always will.

The Holy Spirit is a person of God. He is closer to us than our breath. Closer than a friend. The Holy Spirit is our guide, and the Word is our path. The Word is living. The word was there in the beginning. The word became flesh, and the flesh died so we can live life eternal. Then Jesus left us so the Holy Spirit could come.

This life and all of its distractions that seem so immediate and critical is just a journey—preparation for what is to come. This is not our destination. This is just the proofing ground to prepare our souls for our true life in the presence of God—He who is and was and will come—the one true God—the God who declares, "I am He."

When we step into our relationship with Jesus, we find our purpose in God. It might not be what we thought it was. But God will use our lives to do His will in ways we might not even know about.

When we step into our relationship with Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, we find the things our soul was designed to long for: love, faith, peace, happiness, contentment, purpose, and trust. None of it is bound to or determined by the things of this world. It is settled in Christ Jesus, anchored in God, and guided by the Holy Spirit.

The things of this world are fickle. They come and go. But God is not fickle. He does not change His mind, and He is there even when we convince ourselves he is not. Actually, that is when he is there for us in more ways than we will ever understand. When we are weak, God is our strength and our stronghold.

God is good. Even when life feels like it wants to crush us, God is still good. And one day, you will look back and see it. When things were at their hardest, God was there to carry you through. He set things in place for days such as this before the world was even anchored.

Because you were always part of the plan.

God doesn't need you, that is true, but he chose you. You are not some random accident of fate. The proofing isn't comfortable, but Jesus suffered for us, and we walk in his steps.

Did we ever stop to wonder if maybe the purifying of our faith would have been less painful if we hadn't resisted it so much? If we hadn't kept going back to what hurt us before and had to learn the lessons all over again?

God loves you, and He is fighting to save your soul. Our God will never let go of you, just make sure you do not let go of Him. And even if you do, He will come after his lost sheep. Maybe you should stop running and let Jesus catch you and take you back home so you can stop being lost.

God never leaves us, Jesus never leaves us behind, and the Holy Ghost lives inside us. There is no place you can hide from the love of God. He will protect you, even from yourself.

Through grace, you are saved. That grace was born of Love. The love of a parent who looks at you like you are His only child. A true parent will go to extraordinary lengths to save their child from harm. Children are rarely grateful when a parent intervenes in their lives to save them from themselves. It takes years for them to learn what motivated that good parent, and some never see it. Mainly because they don't want to. Some people would rather blame someone else rather than take responsibility, confess their sins, and be free.

Jesus laid His life down for you. Conquered death. Took the keys of heaven and hell. Came back to life so you can live. And He went up to heaven to prepare a place for you. He left you His Word to teach you and the Holy Ghost as a guide. He washed you clean of your sins and gave you access to God. God gave you life eternal by sacrificing His son.

Can I ask you a question?

What more does He have to do to convince you? Through how many hoops would you jump to convince your recalcitrant offspring that you love them and want what is best for them? And would you keep trying when that child wants nothing to do with you and twists around everything you say a thousand times a day? Would you wake up every morning and forgive yesterday as if it never happened? Would you keep trying to reach them even when they keep turning away from you, blaming you, and cursing you?

We can be grateful that God is not human, that our Father does not change his mind, that the one true God is not fickle, that Jesus' love is pure and unchanging, that our God has a plan for each of us, tailored to each of us, and that He will not stop working on our souls until He returns for us. He will perfect our faith. If we let Him.

God showed us that we cannot save ourselves, and then He saved us through the blood of the Lamb. We need Jesus. Nothing makes sense in our lives without Jesus. If there is a gaping hole in your life that you are trying to fill, then I assure you, it is because you have not answered the knock on the door of your heart and let Jesus in. When the Holy Spirit enters into you, and Jesus lives in your heart, the gaping hole is filled.

Nothing else can fill that void but Jesus—not work, not people, not dreams, not ambition. You will kill yourself trying to fill that void when all you have to do is surrender to Christ.