Friday, April 6, 2018

How to Praise God No Matter What

How has your week gone? Mine has been so busy, it's been hard to keep my head above water, in terms of all the responsibilities. Family. Work. Exercise. Cooking. Cleaning...on and on.

Some sad things have haunted my heart this week. Hard things. Unchanging things. Things that tempt me to give up hope.

When life is tough, praising God can feel even tougher. You might wonder how you can honestly praise God if things are going rough in your life.

When I feel discouraged, I remember Job's story. Job's suffering was on the Olympic scale. He had literally lost everything and had every right to complain.

But Job chose to praise God even in the midst of his hard times. I love this verse and the hymn that is based upon it:

I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. Job 19:25 NIV

Because God's character never changes, we can always praise Him for who He is. Job praised God for being his Redeemer, and praised God for His infinite nature. We can praise God for the same things. We can also praise Him for these qualities mentioned in scripture:

Savior
Friend
Father
Provider
Counselor

I can think of dozens more...how about you?

 No matter how bad things get, we can always praise God for who He is. 

I often challenge myself to praise God for the opposite of whatever situation I'm in.

For example, when I feel tired, I praise God that He never sleeps (Ps. 121:4).
If I'm frustrated, I praise God for being slow to get angry (Ex. 34:6).
If I'm sad, I praise God for capturing all my tears in His bottle (Ps. 56:8). 

No matter what your struggle is, you can praise God for His holiness and perfection. You can praise Him for being sovereign and transcendent over your circumstances. Like Job, you can praise Him for being your Redeemer.

 Let your praises rise up today to the God who loves you.

 Blessings and God's peace to you,
Sarah Geringer
Finding Peace in God's Word

Photo from Canva.com

Reflection questions:

  1. What is your biggest struggle today?
  2. How can you use this struggle as inspiration for praise?

Pin It
Posted by Sarah Geringer

7 comments:

  1. LSBApril 6, 2018 at 8:57 AM

    Wonderful post. I needed that today. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sarah GeringerApril 6, 2018 at 1:19 PM

      Thank you for your comment, Linda. Have a blessed weekend!

      Delete
  2. Alyson | WriteThemOnMyHeartApril 7, 2018 at 8:57 AM

    Loved this: Praise God for the opposite of whatever situation I'm in. So good. I'm going to start doing that right now! Thank you Sarah! ~Alyson

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sarah GeringerApril 7, 2018 at 9:56 AM

    Hi Alyson! Thanks for your comment. I am glad it inspired you...I'm doing the same thing today. Blessings on your weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  4. elizabethApril 7, 2018 at 2:14 PM

    What a good reminder and one I needed!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Peabea ScribblesApril 7, 2018 at 11:26 PM

    Job is often my go to also. I can only pray to be half as brave if having to face some of his issues. Enjoyed reading this wonderful reminder to lean on God when the leaning might be tough.

    Peabea from Peabea Scribbles

    ReplyDelete
  6. Theresa BoedekerApril 17, 2018 at 9:52 PM

    Great idea, Sarah, about praising God for the opposite of our situation.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for stopping by, we love hearing from you. Please feel free to contact us with any prayer requests or questions by commenting below or emailing us at the About Us page.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)