Praising Through The Pain

Ever Since I was diagnosed with depression and stepped down from my ministry I have felt sorry for myself. In fact, I often wallowed and swam in my own self pity. Why did this happen to me? Why do I have to suffer so? Instead of walking towards God...I walked further away. Yeah I still believed but my relationship with Jesus was strained to say the least.

But when I had this latest health crisis of a heart event and major abdominal surgery, I made the decision to believe that God would heal me more each and every day. I was not going to feel sorry for myself...I was going to praise God for seeing me through. It was hard because there was so much fear, pain and uncertainty. Was the disease in my liver cancer...or was it just an absess or infection? I started reading the psalms starting with the first one and began to underline everytime David or the psalmist praised God through raging emotional and physical storms. My Bible is now full of yellow magic marker.

In the human psyche, there is an inclination to close ourselves off when we are enduring emotional or physical distress. Like the turtle and the armadillo we hide within ourselves hoping to emerge again when things get better. The problem with this is that when we choose to close ourselves off, we are putting ourselves in a position where God cannot bless us. When we close ourselves off in self pity or fear we are not in a position to receive or respond. We are simply waiting for the storm to pass.

But it is in the midst of struggle that like David we should praise God in the face of our enemies. Whether it is by worshiping, singing to Christian music, studying scripture or just praying for help, we must stay in a position where God can break through. When we are praising God we are saying, "I am ready for your blessing...I want your best for me...I believe you are going to make a difference.

I have found that by doing this I have learned much about what God has in store for me. I have learned that I needed to change my approach to life. I have discovered that to see where God is leading I must always be looking up. When I bury my head in the sands of self-pity and fear, I cannot see where God wants me to go or hear Him tell me what he wants me to do. We need to praise God even when we are in pain.

Simple right? But easier said than done! We have to make it a habit and daily practice in our lives so when trouble comes we have a foundation upon which to see the blessings of healing and hope that God has in store for us. It has worked for me...maybe it can work for you.