Praise More - Complain Less Pt. 2

Praise more, Complain less pt.2
Scripture: 1Thessalonians 5:18

Let me share with you this scripture in it’s entirety. 1Thess. 5:18 “In every thing give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you”. Now lets look at it in the Amplified Bible Version “Thank [God] in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you, [who are] in Christ Jesus [the Revealer and Mediator of that will]. Now, let me ask you, why don’t we thank God FOR everything that comes into our lives. Well first of all, there is another whose sole mission in life is to steal, kill, and destroy everything God said is good. St. John 10:10 reads “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly”.

The thief, our personal adversary, the enemy of every soul is satan. And his goal is to steal our hopes, our dreams, our joy; to kill our bodies with disease, kill our children and love ones with violence; and destroy our marriages, our careers, our reputations, and so much more. To often we blame God for the acts of satan, when our Heavenly Father is actually the one who is restoring, healing, and placing the broken pieces of our lives back together. There are many people today who have turned their back on God the Father, because they blame Him for the loss of a loved one, or some unfortunate tragedy. That blame allows the evil one to steal our joy, and hinder the healing process. When my sister Donna died at age 42 of a rare bone marrow cancer, I could have easily become bitter and blamed God for my sister’s disease, her pain and her eventual death, but I choose to praise God for His mercy, His compassion, and His grace.

My sister and I learned to praise God together through our tears. I didn’t thank God for the cancer, but my family and I praised God through the cancer and the loss of my sister. Praising God in the midst of your trials and suffering creates an atmosphere for God to dwell and become apart of your hopes. Psalms 22:3 tells us that God inhabits the praises of his people. Praising God invites Him to join you in your trial, your pain, your difficult situation, and though He may not change the eventual outcome, your praising Him allows Him the opportunity to change you to handle, to adapt, and to shoulder the eventual outcome. Most people who know me well, know that the cars I drive are usually high mileage and usually on their last legs when they are purchased. Therefore they usually last 6 – 8 months and then they stop running and I’ll buy another one for about a thousand dollars and drive it till it stops running, but here’s the point.

Every time one of those cars break down and die on me, I just jump out the car and, NO! I don’t start kicking the tires, I start shouting and praising God because I know that God is going to bless me with something better. I have had cars break down on the highway and people passing me would give me the strangest looks because the hood is up on the car and I’m just dancing, and praising God because of His goodness and His grace.

So when things in your life are not going the way you would like, I want to challenge you before you reach for the Tylenol, or Excedrin, or Jack Daniel’s, to try taking 10 doses of hallelujahs, that’s right say hallelujah 10 times, out loud, and see if the corners of your mouth don’t began to turn up. And for extra strength, start counting your blessings one by one and give your Heavenly Father the praise and thanks giving. After all it is His Will for your life…

So, Praise more and Complain less…Be Blessed