I love being on the road and having time without the phone ringing and everyone running in a million different directions. I was going to take LOTS of pictures to post and commerate the family times. was. I took two. 2. Maybe I was living in the moment and not worrying about capturing each turn? More likely I just kept forgetting I even brought the camera and didn't want it turned back on me while I was sailing down waterslides in all my white-flesh wonder.
Anyway, this isn't what I'm really thinking about today.
Today I'm thinking about a song I just listened to on the new CD I bought while away. Apparently the song isn't new, but the CD compilation is fairly recent. I absolutely love compilation CDs because you get a taste of many different artists, and usually it's the best song of their latest album. The WOW people do these best, so when I saw WOW Gospel 2010, it mysteriously popped into my shopping cart!
Third song, first album - Marvin Sapp sings a song called Praise Him in Advance. Check out these lyrics:
i've had my share of ups and downs
times when there was no one around
God came and spoke these words to me
praise will confuse the enemy
so i started singing, i started clapping
i started dancing, people were laughing
they knew my problems, they knew my pain
but i knew God would take them away
that's why i praise Him with my hands
that's why i praise Him with my dance
He's given me a second chance
come on let's praise Him in advance
that's why I praise Him with a song
when things are right and when things are wrong
He's given me a second chance
come on let's praise Him in advance
Sometimes when I'm wading through the waters of life, I look forward knowing the Lord will bring me through and have hope for the praise I will be able to offer. I have seen Him at work enough times (and have read enough of Deuteronomy) to know of His faithfulness even amid my faithlessness. I know when I come through to the other side, I will see all the reasons to lift His name high and rejoice at His goodness.
But what if we chose to praise Him in advance? That takes trust to the next level, don't you think? What if, like the prophet Habakkuk, we chose to rejoice and be joyful in the Lord even when everything was falling down around us?
"Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines,though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
YET I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Saviour."
Habakkuk 3:17-18
It makes me wonder - where in my life do I need to praise Him in advance?
Maybe it's because of an extended time of "togetherness" with my kids that they come to mind. It's so hard to be a parent that's intentional and perservering in patience and grace when there are seasons that show little fruit. Yet today the Lord tells me that I can praise Him in advance for what He is doing and will do in and through these lives entrusted to me for a little while.
Are you praising in advance in the middle of your own storm?
Great post. Sometimes the believing and keepin' on when you don't see is the hardest. Love the praising in advance...
ReplyDeleteFunny you were in my neck of the woods and thought of ME. Makes me smile.