There have been moments in my life when I wallowed through a deep despair and suffered from an inconsolable ache of the soul. This type of discouragement may have been precipitated by difficult people, disappointing circumstances or even just from an inner dryness.
This common but dreaded emotional desert sometimes startles me suddenly, while other times I see it in on the horizon of my life for months before I arrive at its awful gates.
I have learned, over the years of my life, how to navigate this wasteland and how to walk above its barrenness and gloom. While the decision to overcome it is easily made, the disciplines that it requires are not always as effortless.
One of the most powerful determinates in my quest to move past hopelessness and despondency is to begin to make a list of statements that are preceded by the phrase, "How wonderful to know!"
— How wonderful to know that God loves me!
— How wonderful to know that I have been made in the image of my Creator!
— How wonderful to know that He hears me when I pray and that He works all of the details of my life together for good and for His glory!
— How wonderful to know that I am not forsaken but that I am on His mind all day long!
As I change my gaze from the glaring desert, my heart begins to take courage, and what drained me somehow doesn't seem as daunting as it was earlier.
— How wonderful to know that in His presence is fullness of joy!
— How wonderful to know that He is accomplishing what concerns me!
— How wonderful to know that I am seated with Christ in the heavenly places!
— How wonderful to know that I have been forgiven!
No longer am I held in the pain of my emotions but my heart takes flight and soars above the outrage, the distress and the melancholy. The choice to focus on who God is, what He has done for me and the blessings that are mine now usher in sweet relief from all that ails my soul.
— How wonderful to know that His love is lavish!
— How wonderful to know that goodness and mercy are following me all the days of my life!
— How wonderful to know that hope is the anchor of my soul!
— How wonderful to know that His promises are true!
Can you begin to enter into this miraculous discipline with me? Can you choose to focus on His goodness and His power rather than on your pain and your trouble?
I pray that in this New Year we will determine to celebrate Jesus, to remember His faithfulness and to agree with His truth.
— How wonderful to know that His mercies are new every morning!
— How wonderful to know that I am protected!
— How wonderful to know that He is my Healer and my Provider!
— How wonderful to know that the government rests upon His shoulders! 
Carol McLeod is an author and popular speaker at women's conferences and retreats, where she teaches the Word of God with great joy and enthusiasm. Carol encourages and empowers women with passionate and practical biblical messages mixed with her own special brand of hope and humor. Carol has written 11 books, including Significant, StormProof and Guide Your Mind, Guard Your Heart, Grace Your Tongue. Her teaching DVD, The Rooms of a Woman's Heart won the Telly Award, a prestigious industry award for excellence in religious programming.
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