Whoever offers praise, glorifies
God (Psalm
50:23). We praise Him in our victories, our successes, and our blessings, as well
as in our diseases, our worries, our fears and our setbacks (Job 13:15).
There are many times when things
do not go our way. We feel frustration, remorse, defeat and hopelessness; yet,
we rejoice in the God of our salvation, who is our strength (Habakkuk 3:17-19).
This connection with God
acknowledges that He is in control of our life at all times. It humbles us and
causes us to shift our focus from our self and our problems to Him, our Problem
Solver.
The more we establish and
maintain our unity with God, the fewer trials and negative experiences occur in
our life. When they do come, as trials always have a way of infringing on the
best of times, the trauma is short-lived because of our positive attitude.
We see the daily blessings in the
negative situation, and we see the hand of God working in the details to bring
us encouragement and support as we suffer loss and ill health.
Job knew the power of prayer. He
lost more in one day than most people lose in a lifetime. He suffered
anguishing emotional, mental, financial and physical loss all at the same time.
Yet, he chose to praise the Lord.
Sitting in the pile of ashes,
scraping his boils with broken pieces of pottery, his trust in God never
faltered. He endured endless days of torment and suffering with His hope
planted firmly in the Lord.
Prayer:
Father God, the length of Job's
suffering discouraged him and caused him to question You, and to wish to die
and end his misery; but You sustained him through those harsh and unwarranted
issues and blessed him with more than he lost. We thank You that regardless of
the circumstances we experience You are always in the midst of them with us.
It is encouraging to see that
Satan has no power over us. There are only two ways that he can inflict us: if
we open the door to him by our attitude and behavior, or if You give him permission.
We know that if we walk uprightly before You, anything we suffer will result in
more blessings in the end. Therefore, we praise You, even if You decide to slay
us (Job 13:15; Daniel 3:8-18).
Thought for the Day:
When we experience the challenges
of life, we learn to trust in the Lord with our whole spirit and soul, and to
walk in His will rather than in our own goals and plans (Proverbs 3:5-8), as we
live each moment by faith in His faithfulness, and guided by His Holy Spirit.
