Experience has taught me that when things happen in my life, I need to let go and let God. Meaning I need to let God handle my problems. I have found that if I try to solve a problem without consulting God, I sometimes end up making things worse. Now when the storms of life start raging, the first thing I do is seek God in prayer. I fall on my knees and I tell God all about my problems. I have learned that God is a problem solver and he has a plan for every situation we may encounter. Just give your problems to him, get out of the way and let him work them out for you.
After I pray, I turn on some praise music. Praise music gets my focus off my problems and gets my focus on God. When my focus moves to God, I start to remember all the things he has brought me through and I cannot help but start praising his name. I remember how he provided for my family when my husband was laid off for a year. During this time our bills were paid, not always on time and we never went hungry. I praise him because he is my provider, healer, deliverer, sustainer, comforter, peace and joy. He is a holy and righteous God.
Praise changes the atmosphere and it changes our perspective. The dictionary says praise means to express warm approval or admiration of or express one’s respect and gratitude towards (a deity), especially in song (www.en.oxforddictionaries.com). Praise can be expressed not only by singing, but by praying, dancing, giving and talking about what God means to us.
When we praise God, we talk about his character and his deeds. For example, In Exodus 15:2 it says, “The LORD is my strong defender; he is the one who has saved me. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will sing about his greatness. This scripture is talking about God being our defender. He protects us from being consumed by our problems. He protects us from things that would harm us and sometimes he protects us from ourselves. Therefore, praise is very important because when we focus on him, instead of our problems we do not lose hope. We do not lose hope, because we know God is fighting for us.
Praise also calls attention to the glory of God. Praising God is not just about giving thanks to him for all he has done for us. We praise him for who he is, an awesome, mighty, powerful and all-knowing God. We praise him because when we remember who we use to be and how much our lives have changed since we accepted Jesus as savior. I don’t know about you, but I ask God all the time why he loves us so. We make so many mistakes. We don’t do his will and continually fall short of his glory. Despite of our disobedience, he still loves us. When I reflect on his love for us, I cannot help but praise him for his unconditional love for all of humanity. He gives us chance after chance to do what he asks us to do. He is a forgiving God.
As I reflect on God and his love for us. I praise him for sending his only begotten son to die on the cross for our sins. I praise him for allowing Jesus to die for our sins. I praise him for being an accessible God. We can talk to him any time of the day and he listens to every cry and plea. I praise him because he is a comforter. He holds us in his arms when we are hurt and in pain. He wipes away every tear. Psalm 30:5 says, “For His anger is but for a moment, his favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” I could go on and on about our God. He is the Alpha and Omega, Jehovah Yirah, Jehovah Nissi, El Shaddai, Elohim, El Roi, Jehovah Rapha, El Shaddai and El Shalom. The next time problems come, turn your pity party into a praise party. Remember that God will fight your battles if you let him. Get out of the way and let God do what he does best and just praise him for the victory.
LSW
Linda Sharp-Williams 