My wife and I discovered this after inviting our adult son to live with us. Having been kicked out of his residence for using drugs, he had nowhere to go. Our hearts reached out to him. After reassurance he was no longer using drugs, we consented to let him stay with us temporarily. Little did we know he was going through withdrawal. Threats, angry outbursts, and other undesirable traits furiously emerged. A painful situation it was difficult to praise God in and for.
The psalmist expressed his emotional distraught over trying to praise God in painful situations. O LORD, why do you stand so far away? Why do you hide when I am in trouble? (Psalm 10:1 NLT)
Praising in painful situations expresses my faith. Faith isn’t required for those circumstances I can handle on my own or pay someone else to, but it is required when human capability is insufficient.
Praising through the pain also reminds me I live by faith and not sight. From a literal viewpoint, my situation may seem insurmountable, but no mountain exists that I can’t summit with God’s assistance.
In some strange way, praising when it seems senseless relieves the stress, anxiety, and worry that normally accompany difficult circumstances. These emotional downspouts are quelled through my faith expressions of trust in an Almighty God.
Praising through pain witnesses to others who may or may not personally know Christ. Very few things make people sit up and take notice like someone who genuinely smiles even though life has knocked them down. Such a state of mind can only be obtained through a proper faith perspective.
Have you learned how to praise through the pain?
Prayer: Thank You, eternal God, that there’s no circumstance so detrimental that we cannot praise You in it.
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Well said. Recently I've been trying to praise God for the things I don't yet understand, but grateful that he knows how it will all work for good.
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