Do we really understand?

The other day, I was thinking about God and how merciful He is. And how, no matter how we mess up, He's there. A friend was talking about struggles and how it seems like we end up struggling with the same thing over and over. I couldn't stop thinking about this... why, under the freedom Christ gives us, are we still so burdened?

I've been looking around at the world, at others who say they're Christians, and I wonder...

Do we really get it?

If we really understood who God was, what He did for us, would we still struggle with the things we struggle with?

Earlier this year, my friend Marilynn Griffith gave the challenge of asking God for a word. What's your word for the year? Well, I thought I had a word, and you know what? I don't even remember the word I came up with.

And then it occurred to me, over the past few days, that I had the wrong word. I realized that if I truly understood who God was, what He's done, that half the things that I'm dealing with would be a complete non-issue. I read my Bible, have a relationship with God, but do I really understand who I have a relationship with? Do I really get it?

So my word for the year is understand. I really want to understand who God is.