Does that statement sound familiar to anyone? I thought by now… Let’s see! I thought by now that I would be married. I thought by now I would be running the company or at least in a supervisory role. I thought by now that I would be retired. We set our goals and dreams and then we give God a timeline on when to make them come true. So many people around us seem to be getting their blessing and we wonder where we are on God’s calendar. What’s holding up our blessing, we ask? I played my cards right. I followed all the rules. When is it going to be my turn? And God sits back and laugh at our stupidity because we don’t see the whole picture. He knows that everything that is happening to us is actually happening for us. Most of the time God is saving us from ourselves. The guy who looked so good in the club may be the same person who killed his wife several years ago. That company you want to run may be on the verge of bankruptcy and laying off all employees next month. Maybe you are on a mission for God and what you want hasn’t shown up yet because God knows that once you get it, your attention span for Him will dwindle away. We need to learn how to be grateful in all situations no matter what it looks like. Gratitude changes your attitude, which in turn can change your altitude. When I realized how big my conference had become this year, I decided that I needed to give up something major in order to hear from God in a different way. I was grateful and wanted to make sure that I give the people what they paid for. So, December 26, 2016, I gave up television all together so that I could clearly hear God’s voice every day. I didn’t just stop watching, I had the cable turned off. There may be times when God has to get you to a place of “listening.” If you don’t make the time, then He will have to do it for you. You can never run from His agenda. Stop saying, “I thought by now…” and simply embrace the path He has you on and see where it takes you. I’ve found some beautiful places since I did that.