Yesterday capped off three amazing women from the Lifespring family. Karyne spoke on Making Every Effort to Love God, Leona spoke on Waiting, and finally Rebecca spoke on Making Every Effort to Praise God.
Psalm 145:1-2
I will exalt you, my God the King;
I will praise your name for ever and ever.
Every day I will praise you
and extol your name for ever and ever
As Rebecca taught us yesterday, praise is not a feeling, it is a choice. As David teaches us in this Psalm, every day we are to praise the King of Kings! Yet, in reality, everyday is not always a joyful day. We experience moments, days, even months of deep sorrow. We have times where we feel like praise is the furthest thing we want to do.
Yet we are instructed to praise Him daily and all the time! How can this be?
Praising God is not about minimizing and pushing our very real, painful, and traumatic sorrows to the side. It is not about “not thinking” about them or trying to hide from them. True praise comes when we give our insurmountable sorrows to the one we know as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
When we see and hear that God is carrying and taking our sorrows – we can’t help but praise. For the one who created the entire universe with simply His voice – is the way one carrying us through all the pain.
How great is our God.
Father, help us to recognize how Big You Are! Thank you that you are not a far off God watching from afar, but a God who deeply desires face to face intimacy and cares about our every need. Forgive us when we carry what is not meant to be carried – help us to give to you the things that are dear to our hearts. May we be people who praise You everyday! Not because we have to, but from a heart that truly desires to do so. Amen.