Praise and practice

I will sing praise to Your name forever, that I may daily perform my vows. —Psalm 61:8

Praise the LORD from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
stormy winds that do his bidding,
you mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
wild animals and all cattle,
small creatures and flying birds,
kings of the earth and all nations,
you princes and all rulers on earth,
young men and maidens,
old men and children.- Psalm 148:7-12

This is an important issue for both Brad and I, as we have both felt called into some sort of ministry at some point. These first two verses seem to indicate that praise and practice go hand in hand. You can't be truly praising the Lord in an act of worship if what you are doing in your life is dishonoring to Him. The purpose of praise is to honor the Lord our God, so praising Him is directly incongruent with running from His will.

But it is comforting to know that as the first verse states, a part of completing God's will is in the everyday. Where I am right now, not in front of a congregation, I can still try to reach out to people and help people and be there when they need me. Also, the second verse talks about the winds and clouds that 'do His bidding.' They have no choice, and neither do we if we are called. Lord, I trust that You are powerful and faithful, and when You call me... I will do Your bidding, just like the seas and the winds that You also created.

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. - 1 Corinthians 15:58

Here again is the word 'always.' Not just when called to full-time ministry, but always. We always need to be serving our Father with whatever gifts He has graced us. While in grad school or afterwards. And it is so wonderful to serve Him. The other day my mom asked me if GCF was too much to me, and I quickly said no. It's so important to me... it's so wonderful for me. Does it take time? Yes. Does it take energy? Yes. But it fills be with joy to in some small way be able to serve my Lord and Savior. He is faithful. He gives me the love and energy and guidance that I need. And this work is not in vain.