Praising Even When You Feel Lousy!
Have you ever had one of those days when you just felt lousy. I don’t mean you were sick or something, you just felt lousy. Everything was out of sink, nothing was going your way, your car wouldn’t start, your boss was irritated, your kids were cranky…well you get the picture.
Quick question, during that day were you praising God? Were you lifting your hands in worship, and reflecting on his greatness? Truth be told, like me, you were probably too focused on yourself and your day to really pay any attention to God. How sad is that?
The Bible tells a great story about Paul and his companion Silas. These two men were on a missions trip, they were planting churches in Asia. For their sacrifice and service to God, they received the reward of a beating and imprisonment. In the middle of the night with their bruises throbbing, their bones aching, and their wrists in shackles they did something very few of us would have even thought of doing…
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. – Acts 16:25
At the end of one of their “worst days ever”, they sang about the greatness of God. Then God did something miraculous, he sent an earthquake which shook the prison, broke off their chains, and set them free to share the message of salvation with the very jailer of the prison they were in. That’s the power of praising even when you “Feel” lousy.
You see God’s power and purpose isn’t subjected to our whims of emotion. In fact, the Bible teaches that it is within our weaknesses that God loves to show his great power. So, the next time your having “one of those days”, why don’t you stop and praise and see what God does!
