Tag: “The Testing of Your Faith”

Yes, you can praise God when life is great, blessings are streaming your way, and the situations around you make you smile. But even when the opposite is happening – when you didn’t think things could get any worse and then they did, and that thing you are praying for hasn’t happened yet and it doesn’t look like it will happen anytime soon, and when pressures from the outside cause a battle inside your heart and mind – you can choose to praise God.

How do you praise when you are not feeling it?

Here’s what I have learned:

• Put yourself in places where other people are praising God. Listening to them will help you do the same.
• Use God’s Word (the Bible) to inspire your words. Sometimes, during worship at church, I sing with my Bible in my hand. Reading about the goodness of God helps me to praise Him when I don’t feel like it. Another idea is to pray through a section of verses. For example, read Psalm 19 one verse at a time, and thank God for something in each verse.
• Choose to fill your heart and mind with praise. If your mind and heart are warring between discouragement and hope, listen to praise music and sing along to remind yourself of who God is. As I write this, I have music playing where other people are praising God – declaring His faithfulness and His goodness.
• Make it a point to be thankful. If I stop and think about what God has done for me, my family and my friends, I realize that I have a lot of reasons to praise the Lord. Getting this list out of my mind and onto paper is even more powerful.

Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Psalm 103:1 (NIV)

Life Lesson: Choose to praise the Lord.

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)

1 Thessalonians says we are to give thanks in the middle of all situations, but at the end of five, emotionally tumultuous weeks, I was feeling…a mess. How can I give thanks while facing difficult situations?

One particularly hard day, I was visiting a family member in the hospital. We had just received the call that my grandmother passed away. A few minutes after the call, my dad said “God is good”. What?! How can he say that God is good? We were sitting in a hospital; his mom has just died.

Cultivating a Grateful Heart

A couple weeks later – no more hospital visits and after the funeral – I went to a prayer meeting at church. Often, global partners are invited to speak. That day, the couple sharing had just finished a sabbatical in preparation for their next phase of ministry. A lot of what they shared was impactful, including the idea of cultivating a grateful heart.

This couple encouraged us to grow in gratefulness by filling in this sentence: Jesus, it would have been enough if _________, but You _________. For example, It would have been enough to go to church and learn about God from the speaker, but Jesus gave me friends at church who also encourage me. In fact, He has given me strong friendships at two different, local churches. It would have been enough to have an apartment, but Jesus gave me a two-level apartment with parking right outside my front door, a streetlight out front, in a quiet area ideal for working from home.

Practicing thankfulness in this way reminded me of how amazing God is. He’s great all by Himself, without anything He’s ever done for me or my family or friends. But on top of that, He has also chosen to bless me in many different ways.

Give Praise to the Lord

During the week I heard from this missionary couple, I also read Psalm 105. Verses 1 to 4 were especially helpful. Here are a few things I learned:

• Sing and give praise to the Lord (v. 1) – Yes, we do this at church, but I was also reminded to sing praises to the Lord at home. Sing along with some worship music or sing your own song (whether you sound good or not).
• Tell of His wonderful acts, proclaim His name (v. 1) – As I talk with friends and family, don’t be shy or quiet about what Jesus is doing or what I’ve learned about who He is. Say it.
• Look to the Lord and His strength, seek His face always (v. 4) – Get strength from the Lord as I seek Him.

The Testing of Your Faith

Choosing to be thankful in the middle of difficult situations is revolutionary. It reminds me of the power of God, and does what the Bible says in James 1:2-4 – helps me to mature in my faith through trials.

Life Lesson: Practice gratefulness and verbally praise the Lord for who He is and what He’s done.