Praise... So He May Be Praised

Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever! —Revelation 5:13

Tuesday morning on my beautiful bike ride to the Community Food Bank Farmer's Market is the perfect time to praise Him. God is so amazing and so good. Last night reflecting on the Romans chapter, I couldn't help but recognize His goodness... in the face of our weakness and hypocrisy. As Christians, we have such responsibility to share about Him through the way that we live and what we do. Paul in essence says that our words aren't enough. Our actions aren't enough. But our heart must move us to live out our lives for Him and speak about the hope that we have in Christ. Lord, my only hope is in You, because You are perfect in the face of my imperfection. May Your name be praised, Lord. Forgive me... because I do not give You as much time as I should... forgive me when a ritual becomes just that... not motivated by the heart. Circumcise my heart... as Jess put it, so that I can get all the "shmuck out of my life" and be left only with you.

This beautiful praise song from Revelations reminds me of my dear, dear friend Kammy. I miss her so much. She taught me so well how to glorify the Lord with a shining countenance and a loving heart and a warm spirit.

Remember him—before the silver cord is severed,
or the golden bowl is broken;
before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,
or the wheel broken at the well,

and the dust returns to the ground it came from,
and the spirit returns to God who gave it.-Ecclesiastes 12:6-7

This is one of the hardest lessons ever. I can't just praise God when it's convenient... when something is going well, when my home is filled with silver and gold. But when the silver is severed, when the gold is broken, when the pitcher is shattered, when the wheel is broken. This past Sunday, a truck tire which had been torn to shreds was on the highway. A car ran over it, and it flew right up into my face. Thanks be to God, it didn't crash through the window. It left some cracks on the windowshield, but both Brad and I were ok. I'm so thankful... it could've been so much worse. Actually, I'm thankful for two things... that we were ok and also that instead of getting upset, we could count our blessings and thank God that no one was hurt.

When I was in 2nd grade, I kept a journal in class. I remember reading back through it, and I read a very short journal entry: "This morning the apples spilled. It was a VERY bad day." The apples had spilled on the floor that morning, and my dad had gotten upset... and things just seemed to snowball from there. Lord, I need to learn to praise you... even when the apples spill.

I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only heard the report: "The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy." And they praised God because of me. -Galatians 1:22-24

Lord, I pray that I might be like Paul... that somehow... whether through actions that You help me to complete or through the words that You give me to speak... that I may encourage others to praise Your holy name.