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What
do you need in order to praise God?
Ron
Hutchcraft, author of the book
A Word for You shares a story about a summer vacation he had
taken to Cape Cod with his wife and three young kids. He had psyched
the kids up for an adventurous walk to the beach. “We are going to
climb a giant sand dune and find the ocean.” With pails and shovels,
beach chairs, cooler, towel, beach umbrella and all of the other necessary
beach items in hand. They began their two block walk to the sand
dune with a sign, which read ‘Ocean Beyond the Dune.” This heart
band of explorers attacked the dune with excitement and with expectation
that when they reached the top of the dune they would be looking out at
the Atlantic Ocean. What they found was another sand dune.
Disappointed but not undaunted they attacked the second dune only to find
another dune. Climbing the third dune wasn’t as much fun and neither
was the fourth. A mutiny was beginning. Ron tried to encourage
them by promising that the ocean was just over the next dune. He had
never been wrong so many times in one afternoon. Ron had made one
simple mistake. He kept thinking that what he was looking for was just
over the next hill.
Ron
is not alone in this situation. Too often you and I have made and
continue to make the same mistake. We think that what we are looking
for is just over the next hill or just around the next bend in the road of
life.
We think
that we will be happy ‘as soon as’ I
Get out of high school
Get a different job
Get a bigger house
Get a vacation
Get married
Get a raise
Show how
we have been fooled into thinking that we will be content ‘as soon as’
something changes. But the truth is that when that change does
happen it fails to bring the content we were looking for, so our
contentment becomes dependent on another change. Our mistake is that
we base our contentment on our circumstances
Our health
Our finances
Our job situation
How people treat us.
Just as
we base our contentment to often on our circumstances, we also base our
ability to praise God on these very things. Praising God is not supposed
to be situational. This is the point Peter is making when it said,
“Rejoice that you
participate in the sufferings of Christ.”
(1Peter 4:13)
“And the God of grace,
who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered
a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and
steadfast. To Him be the power forever and ever. Amen.”
(1Peter 5:10,11)
Contentment
and praise happens when we look for the Lord. When I focus on what I have
instead of what I don’t. When I draw on God’s strength and God’s
grace, which He promised would always match what each day requires.
Psalm 68
loudly proclaims this to be true. The Psalmist remembers God’s glory and
power.
“May God arise, may
his enemies be scattered; may his foes flee before him.
As smoke is blown away by the wind, may you blow them away; as wax melts
before the fire, may the wicked perish before God.
May the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and
joyful.
Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds --
his name is the LORD -- and rejoice before him.
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy
dwelling.
God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with
singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.
When you went out before your people, O God, when you marched through the
wasteland, the earth shook; the heavens poured down rain, before God, the
One of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel.
You gave abundant showers, O God; you refreshed your weary inheritance.
Your people settled in it, and from your bounty, O God, you provided for
the poor.
Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth, sing praise to the Lord, to him who
rides the ancient skies above, who thunders with mighty voice.
Proclaim the power of God, whose majesty is over Israel, whose power is in
the skies.
You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power
and strength to his people. Praise be to God!”
Times
and culture change, but God is always majestically present. When we
consider all God has done for us we should feel an overwhelming sense of
awe, as we kneel before God, as we lift our songs of praise.
“Cast away all your
anxiety of God
because he cares for you.”
(1Peter 5:7)
When
you carry your worries, stresses and daily struggles it shows you don’t
trust God fully with your life.
“Humble yourselves,
therefore,
under God’s mighty hand,
that He may lift you up in
due time.” (1Peter 5:6)”
Don’t
submit to circumstances BUT to God who controls the circumstances.
What
do we need to be content? What do we need to praise God?
The
answer is simple,
GOD.
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Amen |
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