Acts 16:25 (NIV)
” About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them”.
Hard to imagine myself being as generous a as Paul & Silas. How could they go on so positive, so full of God’s spirit? I suppose this would be one of those times referred to in the Bible as “praising God in the storm”! Wow, I’ve had some rough times and this is a hard scenario to imagine for me.
I can praise God in many things but I am pretty sure if I were wrongly imprisoned, praise would be the last thing on my mind. A student recently said to me, “that’s not fair”. My natural response was, “No one ever said life would be fair”!
“Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. So when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking”. I thought of this verse in Ezekiel with regard to this subject, because he was sent like Jonah to a place he didn’t really want to be and God blessed him. Life isn’t fair, sometimes we have to do things and ind go through things that are really rough. But God calls us to praise Him in the storms of life. Like Ezekiel you will find a rainbow in the clouds if you go and look up to your Heavenly Father for strength and the appropriate words to say.
Praise Him when you are struggling, Praise him when it’s bad weather, Praise him when the paycheck is too short, praise Him when you break your leg! Find something in your life to praise God for. The bad weather brings moisture for the ground or perhaps a day off work because of bad weather and roads. If you break your leg, maybe God is slowing you down to give you badly needed rest. Sing God’s praises! Watch for the blessing that will ensue.
Blessings for the day, CSW
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