It’s because of Him!
Verse for Today: Sunday, August 28, 2011
Psalms 66:16 – Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what He has done for me.
When we experience God in our lives, it causes us to open our mouths to speak about it. As we look at the deliverance God has given us in our difficult circumstances, it urges us to declare it to the outside world. It makes us give credit to God for the victories we find in our lives because we know that we could not have achieved it without Him. When our hearts are overwhelmed with gratitude, we often forget ourselves and declare it to our beholders who wonder how we get deliverance. Miriam and her friends could not keep quiet when they crossed the Red Sea in an unbelievable manner and so they started singing. When the walls of Jerusalem were refurbished and consecrated, the people of God shouted their praises in such a manner that it was heard from a great distance. Whenever David was overwhelmed with gratitude for all that the Lord did for him in the midst of his enemies, he could not keep quiet. He wrote touching hymns to the Lord which he sang with the help of his harp and even danced before the arch of the covenant. He didn’t care when he was despised by his wife. Even though we have miles to go in our sojourn and even if there are more perils waiting for us on our way, when our hearts are sunk in the glory of the past deeds of our Lord, it would open our mouths to praise Him. It gives us the confidence that the Lord who has led us so far is capable of taking us through possible future battles as well. Our praises are thus a buffer in our thoughts as we face the future and help us to laugh at the seeming impossibilities to shout out that it is possible in the Lord. Thus we can march forward singing praise because we know that our Lord has gone before us, and that He is our light and lamp for our way and our feet. When our hearts are thus captivated by the Lord, we can laugh at the impossibilities and move forward. As we march on, we have so much to tell the onlookers about our Lord and His might which cause us to praise Him in advance for all our earthly days.
Dear reader, is your heart heavy with burdens today? Are you finding it difficult to carry it alone? But the Lord wants to ask you as to who brought you so far. If you have come hitherto by your own strength and tactics, then you have every reason to feel heaviness of heart and tensions. But if the Lord has brought you so far, you need to look only unto Him. What He has done for you so far is written in the chronicles of your testimony about Him. Today take your time to count the past blessings the Lord has given you and continue to focus on Him and praise Him. Such a look at the Lord with a grateful heart will take your eyes off the present burdens you are carrying. Remember, He will not allow you to carry it all alone. He will hold your burden for you if you are willing to cast it on Him and trust Him to carry it for you. He will walk with you as you pass through the waters and fire. When you are bolted inside a dungeon with lions, the Lord will be with you. He who created the lions knows how to shut their mouths. He who created fire knows how to protect you from its flames. His wings will cover you in the floods of tumults that the enemy casts over you. His angels will encompass around you to protect you from all snares and sharp stones on the way. His ways of leading you each step will thus cause you to praise Him and testify about what He is doing for you each moment of your life. Such a life will not have time for feeling grouchy. Today let us not waste our spiritual energies in grumbling, but invest it in the praise of our Lord and in declaring His greatness.
Psalms 34:1 – I will extol the Lord at all times; His praise will always be on my lips.
Thought for Today
Praise is the medicine for soul’s diseases like grumbling, grouching, complaining, irritation, moodiness, anxiety, fear, frustration and despondency.
