Keep Praising

This is a devotional I wrote for my MOPS newsletter, and I wanted to share it with all my blog-readers as well.
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“Life is full of unexpected surprises” - we have all heard that phrase before, and I dare say that most of us have experienced our fair share of “unexpected surprises.” I am sure that several life experiences have already come to mind. How we deal with these unexpected surprises is up to us. We basically have two choices: we can allow the burdens of this world to pull us down into deep despair, or we can praise God for His hand and will in our lives and trust Him to see us through. While the choice seems simple enough, carrying it out is something much more difficult.

In Psalm 34:1, the Psalmist says, I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. (NKJV) Perhaps, if we each got a handle of the depth of this Scripture, handling life’s difficulties would be so much easier. To be able to praise God continually – even through the hardest trails of life – would allow us to experience so much less stress and even draw us into a deeper relationship with our Lord Jesus.

Like most of you, life has thrown me some pretty unpleasant “surprises.” Back in 2004, Sean lost his job, and I conceived our first child within the same week! For the first seven months of my pregnancy, Sean was unemployed. This should have rattled me to the core, but instead, I had a peace inside that I simply cannot explain (even now). I continued to keep praising God and putting my faith in Him to deliver us. Although the wait seemed to take forever, He finally did pull us out and provided for us in ways beyond our imagination.

I think my biggest “surprise” came last fall when we started trying to conceive. This had never been a problem for Sean and me. Nathan was conceived shortly after I got off birth control, and Elijah’s arrival was a bit of a surprise. J So, when we decided to start trying for number three, I never imagined it would take seven months! Every month when my cycle arrived, I would cry tears of disappointment. I wondered why God would not answer our prayers…especially when our four year old was praying fervently for a new baby. What kind of God ignores the prayers of a four year old child?! I really struggled with my faith during this time; I struggled with seeing God’s blessing in this area of my life. Of course, my past struggles with the uterine infection (following Elijah’s birth) just played into my fears of never conceiving again. Finally, my pastor told us just to relax and leave it up to God. He prayed over us one Sunday, and then told us to forget about it and let God do as He had planned. It was then that I refocused and began praising God for everything in my life – everything He had given me, everything He had done and was going to do. Sure enough, I got pregnant the next month.

The Word tells us that God inhabits the praises of His people. When we praise Him, He allows His blessings to flow in our lives. As you face life’s “unexpected surprises,” may His praise continually be in your mouth. Praise the Lord!