Praising Him in Everything

"Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name..."
~ Matt Redman ~
Lyrics from "Blessed be Your Name"

The lyrics of this song are amazing. As a worship leader this is one of my favorite songs and we sing it often at our church. God is awesome and His name is blessed!

C.S. Lewis once wrote, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains. It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

It is easy to praise God when we are on the mountaintop but it can also be difficult to raise our hands and shout praises to our Lord when we are wading through the muck of life's deepest valleys. Becoming wounded and discouraged is an element present in each of our lives. What do we do when we are hurting and disappointed? PRAISE AND WORSHIP GOD! This is truly the
antidote to our pain.

Job is a great example for each of us. He was persecuted and deeply wounded. In the world's eyes he had it all but ended with nothing. Throughout life's pain and one discouragement after another Job continually worshiped and praised God. He didn't become bitter and angry. During the numerous heartaches he continued to connect with God, blessing His name and trusting Him for everything. Job's relationship with God was stretched to the limit yet he continued to cling to the Lord. In spite of all the adversity in his life Job refused to let go of God. Even in the midst of his suffering and confusion he knew that there is no other place to take all his problems but to God.

Do we praise and worship God when we are having a major bad hair day? Do we call out blessings to His name when we are sitting in a ten mile backup on the beltway and are already thirty minutes late for an appointment that took one month to arrange? Are we rejoicing in the Lord when we are tired and weary from a long day at the office, our house is a mess, the laundry is piled higher than the washing machine, our children are tired and cranky and everyone is waiting for us to prepare the evening meal? Do we praise Him when we are in the midst of spiritual warfare and a number of hurtful things have been repeated about us and our family to others in the church? Do we truly worship God when everything goes wrong in our lives? It is certainly an easy task to worship Him when all is going our way. It's easy to be a fair weather believer. But when things get tough and life becomes challenging where do we stand?

Praising God turns our attention away from the problems and trials of this life. His name is blessed whether we are in the valley or on the mountaintop. He is certainly worthy of our praise in all circumstances.

My hubby and I have walked through many valleys in our ministry but God never fails to be there for us with outstretched hands. Praising Him in the midst of the storms brings peace and comfort to the weary. My dad passed away at the age of 49 with lung cancer. God gave me tremendous peace as I watched my dad rapidly deteriorate over a six month period. I was eight months pregnant with our first baby and the first grandchild. Dad passed away two months before Brooke was born. The pain of watching my father suffer was overwhelming but I never stopped praising God. I trusted Him throughout this time in my life and again God gave me abundant peace.

My brother passed away at the age of 42 with pancreatic cancer. He also was an unbeliever and very bitter about my father's death. As we traveled back and forth from Maryland to South Carolina those seven months I continued to praise God and believed Him for my brother's salvation. Like my dad he gave his heart to the Lord several weeks before he passed away. God was on the scene and with me throughout this difficult time in my life. I continue to praise Him today for the peace and comfort He provided to me during that challenging time of my life.

Blessed be His name! God is awesome. He is everything to me. He is my life. Praise Him today for all life is offering you. God has a plan. What you are going through today is not a mistake. Rejoice in it and be glad! Blessed be His name!

I am thankful today for all He has done in me. I continue to be a work in progress and anxiously anticipate His will each new day. Be sure and visit Iris at Sting My Heart for additonal IOW postings today!