Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Prepare the Way

Psalm 50:23 NIV

He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me,
and he prepares the way
so that I may show him the salvation of God.

A sacrifice of thanks offerings.

Now in the midst of so much turmoil in the body of Christ and in this world today?

How?

So many are grieving and hurting in the body of Christ. To list a few from the people I know:

  • One with unexpected death of sister.
  • Four friends whose husbands need work & financial needs for family.
  • One who received news of unexpected sudden illness of mother.
  • One whose 4 month old grandbaby’s life is hanging by a thread & praying by the grace of God he’ll pull through.
  • One who is battling on-going illness.
  • One whose ministry in another country is battling police corruption.
  • One stressed from work and desires family time.
  • And so on.

Yesterday I felt led to the verse above. I decided to rise up and praise the Lord in my tears and in spite of my fears. I will praise HIM no matter what I see as HE is the sovereign God. HE is the ruler of the heavens and the earth. No matter what I can find something to praise HIM for in the midst of so much trouble.

When I chose to praise HIM in spite of my hurts and pain, things changed. Not the circumstances as I have to leave those in the Lord’s hands. Those matters are too big for me to fix. Only God can orchestrate and change the circumstances. But what changed was my attitude.

My perception cleared.

The heaviness lifted.

God alone has the answers. The answers may not come as quickly as we’d like. Or the answers may not be what we hoped for. I don’t always understand. His ways are higher than my ways and his thoughts higher than my thoughts. (Is. 55:9)

According to the scripture above, the praise prepares the way to see the salvation of God. I take that to mean to see HIM come through some how, some way—HIS way & in HIS time.

When someone asks me “How are you doing?” My response is “I have opportunity to see God’s glory.”

Let’s praise HIM in our storms, trials, and tears. We do our part. Then HIS word says, “He prepares the way so that [He] may show us the salvation of God.”

Blessings in Christ--

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