"Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." -Psalm 73:23-26. This has been one of my favorite passages since April of last year. I was thinking about it the other day and God was showing me a different perspective on it. The first part that really stuck out to me was the phrase, "You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory." The verse doesn't say, "You guide me with your counsel and while doing that you will receive me to glory." No...it says afterward. There are definitely times when I get so caught up in the "why is this happening?" or "can this just please go away now?" that I forget about the bigger picture. It's more than that though. God promises us that we will go through trials and temptations and struggles. We live in a fallen world, it's inevitable. But God will guide us with His counsel if we let Him. I know that at times I'm guilty of trying to do everything on my own. Honestly though, that is so arrogant and prideful. Who am I to think that I can handle everything by myself, when the Creator of the universe is the one who spoke me into motion in the first place? The God who created everything chose to create me, to make me part of His plan. Not the other way around. Read chapters 37-42 of the book of Job. They're incredible, and very humbling. That's the God we serve. And after we go through the difficult times, God will receive us to glory, the glory that we don't deserve in the first place. When I read the part again that says,"Whom have I in heaven but you?" I was reminded of a quote by John Piper. Piper says, "The critical question for our generation—and for every generation— is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ were not there?" Every single time I hear that quote it challenges me. Every time. Can you honestly answer that you would not be satisfied if Christ were not there? I want to get to the point in my life where I can honestly say that there is nothing on earth that I desire besides God. Nothing. I'm not there yet. Our hearts beat for God and God alone. Nothing else even comes close to being deserving of our complete and total love, affection, energy, time, thoughts, praise, worship, etc. For You and You alone, awake my soul.