Praising!

It has been awhile since I posted. The last few weeks have been hard and busy; hard due to a long migraine; busy due to, well, life.

During those hard days of the migraine and working, I was tempted frequently to despair. I cried out to God, waited, and cried out to Him more. I was struggling with discouragement, weakness, fatigue, and more discouragement. Finally, I told my close friend and prayer partner of my struggles so that she could pray with me as I continued to cry out to my Father.

God then used this friend as she sent me songs and quotes to point me back to God. One of the quotes was from the song “Put on the Garment of Praise,” “Lift up the hands that hang down, Lift up the voice now still, give unto God continuous praise, sing forth from Zion’s hill.” Sing when my heart was down and all looked gray? Yes. Sing. Praise God.

Discouragement is a loss of focus on God. Although I had chosen the passage months before this hard time, God had orchestrated that my passage to memorize the first week of this migraine was Psalm 112, “1Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. 2His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed. 3Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever. 4Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. 5A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion. 6Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. 7He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD. 8His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies. 9He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour. 10The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away: the desire of the wicked shall perish.”

Notice that it starts with PRAISING the LORD! As we praise Him, our focus is directed to Him! Notice that this Psalm continues to bring our focus on God through fearing Him and delighting in His commandments (v.1), seeing Him as our light (v.4), and trusting in Him (v.7-8). In applying this verse, it was helpful to me to be accountable to someone. Daily praise updates to my prayer partner helped me purposely, intentionally focus on God and His goodness through the valley. Graciously and patiently she praised with me while praying for me. Slowly, but in God’s time, He began to “sweep me off my feet” as only our precious loving God can do with comfort and love.

The migraine finally “broke” and hours and hours of sweet rest came. Then, our precious Saviour gave me a special gift. The next week He gave me literally hours upon hours of time alone with Him and His Word. It was a sweet time of fellowship with Him and in His Word. My heart soon was overflowing with joy and more praise!

Discouraged? Praise Him! It chases the storm clouds away!