Power of Praise

I'm linked to a few devotional type web sites. They generally send some points to ponder each day. This week's theme has been praise. How to praise God, where to praise God, when to praise God.....

My problem is that I don't feel like praising God. I am struggling. A man is in a hospital room dying of cancer. I don't want to praise God while this man and his family suffer.

The miracle I've prayed for, for almost 3 years now, hasn't happened yet. I don't want to praise God while I wait.

The job I was told was mine has changed. The terms are different and I don't know what to do about it. I don't want to praise God while I weigh my options.

I know the Bible says to praise Him. It says He is worthy. It says He is in control of it all, so we are to praise Him in His wisdom. But I'm struggling. I don't want to praise Him and feel fake, when what I really want to do is cry. And ask "WHY???" I don't want to pretend to love His wisdom when it doesn't match what I want for my life or the life of others I see. I don't want to be a hypocrite, opening my mouth to give Him praise when inside I don't really feel it.

I've heard that this is faith...you do things sometimes even though you don't see evidence. Right now I don't see evidence. I can look outside and see the sun shining and the flowers blooming and I know God is here and I can praise Him for that. But can I truly, honestly praise Him for these struggles while I'm in the middle of them?

I can look back and see struggles in the past, that I can now praise God for. They have shaped me in ways I could not have imagined. And I can say that although I never want to go through them again, I am honestly thankful for the lessons learned. But did I praise God in the midst of them? I doubt it.

So what do I do? I read a quote that says "God doesn't tell you to thank him for the negative circumstances. He says to thank Him while you're in the midst of them. Doing this shows that you trust Him to bring you out." So do I really, really trust Him to bring me (and others ) out? Or is it lip service?

Sometimes this walk is hard and more complex than I want to give thought to. And although it sounds like I am taking both sides of an argument, I cannot imagine walking this road without God.

I can go to Him with these questions. I can talk to Him and ask what to do. He made me with this inquisitive mind. He gave me the guts to go boldly before Him and ask Him what the deal is. He allows me to grieve a perceived unfairness, get angry at a perceived injustice and cry at a perceived situation unraveling before me. He is the only one who can bring justice, make it fair and knit the situation back together. He is the only one who can calm the storm raging in my heart.

So I turn to Him. I do thank Him for His love, His patience, His kindness to me. I do praise Him for my beautiful family, the joy of being a mother, and the privilege of being His child. And I ask Him for help with the rest...........

Points to Ponder

Today the Sunday sermon was divided by three pastors. All three had wonderful points and I wanted to record some of the ones that hit home with me.

One pastor gave this analogy...when you are buying a house, you are buying it because you want it to be yours. In reality what happens is that the bank pays your debt to the seller. You then become indebted to the bank. So you work long and hard to repay that debt so that one day you can truly own the house outright. The pastor said that many times this is how we view our relationship with Christ. We think He paid our debt on the cross. But then we think we become indebted to Him and work our whole lives to repay that debt. In truth, we could never repay that debt. We should look at it like a gift. You don't repay a gift. You are just very thankful for it. You try to remember the kindness of this gift and the love it took to give it to you.

Another point was this....once you accept Christ as your Savior , the eternal end of things is settled. There are human consequences to human actions here on earth (that's hard to accept for me, I want God to fix my mistakes!!) but there is no longer a question as to eternity.

One more....Good, bad or indifferent, it's all about Him. God can receive glory through any situation. He is due glory in any situation. It's all about Him. Even Jesus asked for another way to end the suffering. He asked God to change things, if it be His will. But even through the most horrible suffering imaginable, with all of humanity's sin upon Him, God received glory.

I am always thankful for a new way to see life. Thank you Lord for sharing even a bit of your insight with me. To God be the glory!