five benefits and five obstacles

The last few days I have rested in His presence; the struggle is gone for now though I know I will have to deal with it as the Lord wills.
I have been reviewing Beth Moore's book Breaking Free.
She lists 5 benefits in knowing God, and they are very important.
To know God and believe Him, to glorify God, to find satisfaction in God, to experience God's peace, and to enjoy God's presence. The obstacles she lists are unbelief (which hinders knowing God), pride (which prevents us from glorifying God), idolatry (which keeps us from being satisfied with God, prayerlessness (which blocks our experience of God's peace), and legalism (which stops our enjoyment of God's presence).

As I look at these I can relate it so much to Thinwithin. The more I know God, the more I want to glorify Him, and the more I glorify Him, the more satisfaction I have in God and the more I experience His peace. The more I enjoy His presence, the more I find satisfaction in Him, and desire nothing else at all. The more I desire nothing else at all, the more I obey God, then in turn going back to glorify Him and thank Him for all the help He has given me with my problem.
Pride could become an obstacle if I lose weight and keep my focus on that. I have done that in the past, but right now my weight loss is so small that God keeps me justifiably humble.
Prayerlessness is no longer an obstacle, and just as sure as I go without it I am back to square one. However, I don't want to get into legalism and think I am earning the right to lose weight.
God surely has His ways of keeping me close to Him; I have shared the loss of my daughter 4 years ago. As I keep my eyes on God, I am free from pain, but if I start drifting away then God releases His hand and the grief is overwhelming.
So any problem we have God can use it to keep us close to Him, whether it is the battle with food, the battle with grief, or any other problem we face daily. We can thank Him constantly that He works to keep us in His presence.
Hopefully tomorrow I will talk about idolatry.