WILL I PRAISE HIM?
Psalm 7:17
"I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High."
There's train bridge over a river near home that is no longer used by the trails, it is now used by snowmobiles and ATV's. My dad tells a story of when he was a boy, his dad would make a sort of bomb, with hot lime and a Mason jar. He explained that putting lime with hot water in a jar and sealing it will create great pressure and eventually blow up.
My grandfather would have my dad and his brothers downstream of the train bridge, waiting. My grandfather would drop the "bombs" into the deep water below the train bridge where the fish schooled. When the bombs went off the fish would float to the surface, stunned by the "bomb", and my dad and uncles would collect the fish and bring them home where my grandmother would can them for future use.
This is very similar to what the fishery biologists do today for collecting data or removing unwanted fish from a body of water. It's a very interesting process... the men in the boat, or walking in waders, place probes into the water and an electrical charge is sent through the probes and they electrify the water. All the fish within a certain area around the probes are stunned by the shock. They then float to the surface, unable to move. Next they are gathered for measuring and tested and then returned to the water.
A couple of nights ago I had a dream. In the dream, I was sleeping and woke up and realized that I was totally paralyzed and was unable to talk. I had no way of telling anybody what was happening... I couldn't move or communicate. In the dream I was frightened and panicking. The thought that went through my mind was that all I could do was praise the Lord. I couldn't do anything else in my condition.
When I woke up, I laid in bed thinking, if it were true, that I was completely unable to do anything… would I praise God, even in the midst of the seemingly worst thing that could happen to me?
Since that time, my mind can't clear those thoughts... "If I could do nothing else, would I praise God?". I wish I could say without a doubt that I would, but I don't know.
I think of Job and him losing everything. The only thing he's had left was a negative wife and three friends with bad advice. Yet, after just having lost all of his children and his wealth, he praised God.
Job 1:20-22
Then Job got up, tore his robe, and shaved his head; then he fell to the ground and worshiped. 21 He said,
"Naked I came from my mother's womb,
And naked I shall return there.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord."
22 Despite all this, Job did not sin, nor did he blame God.
I wish I could say that, if I lost everything, I could be a "Job"... but I would hope I would.
How about you? Is your happiness and joy connected to the things that you have, your home, your treasures, your family or your health?
In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Paul tells us,
"in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus."
Can we do that? Can we trust Him enough to know that He will take care of our every need? I'm going to try?
Help achieve the mission - GIVE today
Click the button to sign up for Dean’s Daily Devotional. FREE and delivered daily.