Praise in the Midst
"<<A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed.>> I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth." Psalm 34:1 KJV
I know I haven't written in while...and truthfully I've been too distracted to write. I have been hopping on and off the merry-go-round and sometimes the stops haven't been so pleasant. I can say thank God that my most recent stop was awesome (I turned 26 last Tuesday yay). It was much better than last year, but I think I was too heartbroken from losing my daddy to enjoy it. Life and everything in it serve as distraction enough, and when troubles arise, it is easy to forget God or the things He desires of us. I was reading to catch up on some devotions...because I get like 5-7 everyday and sometimes I just ignore them. Well its been many days now and I just can't stand looking at the pile of emails any longer...OCD I guess lol. So the one I just finished was on praise. And I thought, how can you praise God in the midst of your suffering? Because I have and I am sure you have too, experienced difficult things in life, where you could not even bring yourself to think of praising God. I've asked God, "Why did you allow this" or "How can this work out to my good" or "What did I do to deserve that" only to hear nothing. After some point, someone I trust and confide in will often awaken me from my pity party and remind me of who God is and what He can do. So I asked myself how can you praise God in the midst? How can a person like me, who has heard everything from "People have it worse than you" or "You are so blessed", keep praising God when life knocks you down?
And my answer is now that I have to stay in the Word. God gives us promise after promise that things will work out for our good. Romans 8:28, which is one of my favorites, was a scripture I recited over and over to myself to encourage myself. I recently found a few others that help to make the devil flee. Isaiah 61:7 states, "Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, And instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land, Everlasting joy will be theirs." NASB There has been many a day that I have felt shame, either self-inflicted or out of my control, and knowing that God will in essence, give me double for my trouble is comforting. Luke 1:45 says "You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said." (NLT) So by simply believing in Romans 8:28, Isaiah 61:7, and countless other scriptures, I can praise God, even when I don't feel like it. Even when my mind is running and my heart is heavy, when you experience losses and death, you can still praise God because of the promises in His word. As I write this right now, I don't feel like praising God because I have my own ambushes to deal with right now. But some how these things are going to work in my favor because even if they are from the enemy, trusting in God's abilities instead of my own will prove advantageous for me always.
"Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT
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"No weapon formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of God and their righteousness is of me," says the Lord. Isaiah 54:17
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