The saying "the struggle is real" has been around for a very long time and it's kind of a catch all for when things are tough or when we're making a joke about how that really aren't tough seem tough.

Sometimes we were serious when we say it and other times I have to check myself on this. Sometimes the question I have to ask myself is:

Am I in a situation that's tough because I've made it tough?

Of course, I want to immediately remind people that grace is always there for times like this. However, I have found that some situations that I've messed up are straight up the result my fault, not simply a product of misfortune in life. In the case of the Prodigal Son, he was literally wallowing after splurging his inheritance, but he knew that what he was experiencing was his own fault. But then he came home and found mercy and grace from his father. 

I want to encourage you today that if you're in a mess that you've made on your own, it's okay. It happens. We all do this at some point. But the first step to get out of it is realizing that we are in fact the one who created this mess. 

Elizabeth Elliot once said:

"A whole lot of what we call struggling is simply delayed obedience."

There are so many times in my life where I have been on the fence about something that I didn't want to do, but I knew that God really wanted me to do it. That was the source of my problems because I wasn't following where He was telling me to go; where I knew I needed to go.

Sometimes struggles come along and they get us so we end up having to deal with it. But in other times, we've got to make a choice. We're either going to fight God every step of the way as we seek to do what we want to do with our lives or we're going trust God with a next step and obey him. Even if it's scary, even if it's hard, we know it's the right thing to do. It's the best thing for us. That's the first step we can take on this pathway to peace.