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Praising through the Waiting

I was listening to a popular preacher the other day and something he said stuck with me and I have been mulling it over in my mind the last couple of days.  Isn't it funny how sometimes just one little sentence can trigger something within us?  I think it fits well with our themeof overcoming the overwhelming this week.  

In Psalm 34:1 David says "I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.  

We have heard so many times that it is almost cliche when someone says "Just praise him anyway!"  Yeah, well, you know what?  That "anyway" can be difficult!  We know we are to praise Him.  We know we are to keep our eyes focused on Him no matter what else happens.  We know we can change our attitudes when we Praise Him because our focus is off the circumstance onto the One who is in total control.  We know all of that.  But look at a few chapters later in Psalm 142:1-3

"I cry out to the Lord with my voice; with my voice to the Lord I make my supplication.  I pour out my complaint before Him; I declare before Him my trouble.  When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then You knew my path.  In the way in which I walk they have secretly set a snare for me."

In these scriptures, David had fled to the cave to find safety from the pursuit of Saul.  He had no one that was encouraging him or uplifting him and he goes on to say in verse 4 that no one cares for him.  He even feels in the rest of the chapter it would seem that he is alone and even God has failed him.  (Psalm 142:4-7).  I have never been pursued by someone that wanted to kill me.  I have felt abandoned.  I have felt alone.  I have felt as though God wasn't there.  I have felt as though no one cared.  It can be difficult to turn that attitude around and take those thoughts into the captivity of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).

It doesn't sound like David was doing much to take his thoughts captive.  How often are we guilty of the same thing?  How often do we let our thoughts just run wild and not make the conscious decision to change our thinking?  I know for me, it can be difficult to change a line of thinking, but it can be done.  You know, sometimes the easiest way to change that line of thinking is to take our "complaints" to God, just as David said he was doing.  It is okay to do as David did and lay before the Lord the things that are bothering us, upsetting us, or keeping us distracted.  Does that mean that we are not trusting God?  Does that mean that we are not "continually praising him?"  Can we praise Him while we are distracted and thinking of something else?  God knows what is bothering us anyway.  He knows where our attention lies.  He knows our hearts anyway (Romans 8:27-28).  

Sometimes we need to release what we are holding on to so that the Lord can complete His work. Sometimes we need to release what we are holding onto so the Lord can heal, so He can give us that peace that passes all understanding (Phillipians 4:7).  We need that peace to guard our hearts and minds, as the scripture says in Phillipians 4:7.  We can't "vent" to just anyone.  I am sure we all have found that out at one time or another.  What we say to someone can be used against us later.  Who do you actually trust with 100% of your heart? We can't take to social media because then we are seen as a negative, needy person. There is no "safe place" for us to vent outside of our relationship with our loving Father.  

I am married to a wonderful man.  I do consider him my "safe place."  Early in our marriage I vented to him all the time.  I mean All. The. Time.  I was so negative.  He was my Husband and he should listen to me vent.  I should be able to do that, right?  True.  Husbands and wives should be in a place in their marital relationships that they are able to come together and unburden to each other, pray about things together, and move on.  Now, 21 years later, I am able to do that with my husband; however, it hasn't always been that way.  Ladies, there is a point where we become so negative in our speech.  When our husbands walk through the door or we get home from work we immediately begin to rehash the day and we talk about Susie Smith at work, or how rude the checker was at the grocery store or the horrible criticism we received from our boss.  Fill in the blank with what you are venting every day.  I began to notice that all my complaining (yes, it stopped being venting) was affecting my husband and my relationship with him.  No husband wants a wife that constantly complains and can find no joy in her life.  An atmosphere of constant negativity affects everyone in the home.  My kids started walking on egg shells around me. They began staying in their rooms instead of coming out and being with my husband and I.  My husband became closed off and basically ignored anything I said to him. I had to change what I was doing.  

That's not to say we don't talk to our husbands about things..but we need to temper that with taking things to the Lord, too.  We want to foster an atmosphere of love and peace in our homes and in our relationships with our husbands.  So...the safe place we need to go to is to our Father in Heaven.  Find your quiet place and pour out to Him the things that are complaints, negative, and keeping your thoughts away from praising Him (Matthew 6:6).   What better way to prevent us from becoming overwhelmed is there than to talk to our Heavenly Father about the things that are trying to overwhelm us?  He will give us that peace that passes understanding to guard our hearts and our minds!  Guarding our minds with that peace allows us to focus on thoughts that are positive.  We can focus on the praise that should be in our mouths and lifted to our Father.  We can focus on all that is pure, and true, and noble and of good report (Phillipians 4:8).  But, we must first take the negativity captive and under the subjection of Jesus Christ.  We must first release these things we are holding onto that are threatening to overwhelm us and completely relinquish the control to our Heavenly Father.  Only then will we find that peace we so desperately need in the storm.  
Father, we don't want to be overwhelmed.  We don't want to allow the things of this world to affect us to the point where we cannot praise You.  As we are learning to bring the things that overwhelm us to you, we ask that You send Your Holy Spirit to us to gently remind us to let "it" go and to turn to You first.  Thank You for Your patience, for Your love, and for Your safety and refuge during the storms we face.  This weekend, let us be the light to this world You want us to be.  In the name of Jesus, amen.  

  
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This post first appeared on Living In The Word, please read the originial post: here

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Praising through the Waiting

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