Praise Through the Pain
“I was doing everything right this time. I was correcting my mistakes and making progress. How could you let this happen to me?” I yelled angrily at the Lord as hot tears rolled down my cheeks.
In one fell swoop, I had just lost the job I was financially dependent on and had built my identity upon. I was so angry at God for my circumstances, but I was also angry at myself for making mistakes I felt were too big to come back from. My life felt like a giant mess, and I didn’t know where to turn.
The enemy quickly whispered that no one understood what I was going through and that I needed to keep it all to myself, bottling it up and pushing it down—and I listened. Before I knew it, I was in a pit of depression so deep I couldn’t get out.
My friends and family did their best to encourage me, but I grew angrier with every Scripture they shared. God wouldn’t have let this happen to me if He were good. I didn’t believe He had good plans for my life because, at that point, it felt like a complete disaster. It deeply bothered me that God’s Word made me angry, especially since it was shared to encourage me, but I didn’t know what to do about it.
Have you been there?
Maybe your circumstances have left you wondering where God is in your situation. Through this season, I learned that God is always good, and yes, He has great plans for my life. However, He does ask me to be a part of it. My part in all of this was to seek Him—and I wasn’t.
Jeremiah 29:11-13 tells us that God has great plans for our lives, but it also tells us that we will find God and those plans when we seek Him wholeheartedly.
“Search for the LORD and for his strength; continually seek him.” (Psalm 105:4 NLT)
This is important every day, but even more so when we are going through difficult times. One of the best ways to seek the Lord continually is to remember what He has already done and who He is, and to praise Him for those things. This doesn’t mean you ignore your problems; it means you don’t give them greater focus than God.
“Give thanks to the LORD and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done. Sing to him; yes, sing his praises. Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds. Exult in his holy name; rejoice, you who worship the LORD.” (Psalm 105:1-3)
I had to learn who God is. I had to understand what it means to seek and praise Him wholeheartedly. I had to allow God to show me who He said I was. My actions and mistakes resulted in the loss of my job, and God used my circumstances to teach me who He is and who I am in Him. This valuable lesson enabled me to get through things far worse than losing a job over a decade later.
I don’t know where you are in your own story today, but I do know this: stopping to remember what the Lord has already done for you and praising Him for who He is will help shift your perspective toward Him and away from your circumstances. Take a moment to think about what you can praise the Lord for today, and then praise Him!
“Praise the LORD! Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. Who can list the glorious miracles of the LORD? Who can ever praise him enough?” (Psalm 106:1-2)
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Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
