Thursday, October 6, 2011

Praise God, Even When It Hurts


My tears have been my food day and night,
         While they continually say to me,
         “Where is your God?” 
        (Psalm 42:3)

I remember a time before I was saved thinking, concerning a Christian man who lost his job. “Where is your God now? He sure helped you, didn’t He?” During trying times, one may ask, “Where is God?” Maybe a job loss during these difficult economic times or the loss of a loved one leaves a person in doubt and intense sorrow.  They keep calling out to God, yet their suffering continues. It is easy to say "God has forgotten me."

         I will say to God my Rock,
         “Why have You forgotten me?
         Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” 
         (Psalm 42:9)

Life sure can throw some difficult things at us at times. I know in the past I have felt like God has forgotten me, or why would He help me? However, we must always remember when the storms of life come our way; there is always an open door. Are we going to walk through the door drawing closer to God remembering all the good He has done? Are we still going to lift up our praises trusting He is with us?  Or are we going to close the door?

        Why are you cast down, O my soul?
         And why are you disquieted within me?
         Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him
         For the help of His countenance. 
            (Psalm 42:5)

No matter how terrible things may become, we always have a reason to praise God. He sent His son to die for us. God gave us eternal life, those who believe upon His Son, Jesus Christ. Is that not enough reason to continue praising Him? Yet He has done so much more. Maybe take some time right now to remember the good He has done in your life and never let it depart from your heart and mind. If you are struggling with something right now, Psalm 42 and 43 are awesome Psalms to dive into.

And always, always remember:

5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 
6 So we may boldly say:

      “ The LORD is my helper;
      I will not fear.
      What can man do to me?”  
      (Hebrews 13:5-6)

All scripture from the NKJV




10 comments:

  1. Thank you Lord Jesus for this magnificent post that my brother in Christ has placed here!!!

    God's blessings to you Ken!!!

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  2. Great post Ken! I always try to remember that even in the midst of my despair, He is always by my side encouraging me and giving me strength as long as I communicate to Him through worship and prayer. Even when the going gets tough I know He always leads me to where I’m supposed to be, and He is going to be with me every step of the way.

    Hugs and blessings to you my friend,
    Denise

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  3. Hi Ken,
    When I am going through a rough spot in life and it just looks like God is ignoring me, not hearing my plea and cry for Him to intervene, sometimes I fail to wait on Him and take things into my own hands and well, then everything goes downhill quickly. If only I wait. If only I had the patience and obedience to wait for Him to move. It is hard, but when I do wait He comes in and blows my socks off. I don't like chaos but sometimes situations become chaotic around me and nothing I say or do helps. Even if I am waiting on Him this whirlwind is blowing around me and if I don't keep my eyes on Jesus I get sucked up. But, if I wait and pray and do what He tells me to do, like stay calm and not get angry, then the whirlwind stops and things are put not only back into place, but put into a better place than before. It is hard though, hard to allow the mess to go on and stay calm.

    Praise God always helps. It changes my focus and the focus of people around me and I believe it does something powerful in the atmosphere around me. Just saying the names of God makes shifts in the dimensions that we cannot see.

    Blessings brother, good post.
    <><

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  4. A timely word that has greatly encouraged me today.

    The LORD (the Almighty LORD of the Universe) is my helper. I will not fear...

    Those are powerful words, Ken. I claim them and praise God for the Truth of them.

    GOD BLESS!

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  5. Thank you for those encouraging words. There have been a lot more robberies around here as the economy gets worse. Some robbers were in my son-in-law's house when he came home this week. They would have been there when my granddaughters came in from school, but they "happened" to be picked up by their Mom instead! It is easy to become anxious. I need to remember: The Lord is my helper, I will not fear. What can man do to me.

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  6. This is a wonderful post Ken..I love the scriptures you chose..they show us that we can and must always be real with God, it's OK to question and to ask 'why?'. In my life it is not the times when I thought God forgot me, but the times when I forgot Him that haunt me still. I am living and learning to react differently during those trying times, but I didn't always do so.

    ~Blessings In Jesus, & remember, we are...
    Never Forsaken

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  7. Thanks Ken for the reminder to keep our focus on God with confidence that He is at work even in the bad times and storms of life.

    Even as I read your post, a couple of people who are going through trial after trail came to mind. Today a church a gentleman was saying the times when God seems the most distant, He is ever so near.

    Blessings in Christ...Susan

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  8. I believe God is closer to me when I am in trouble. If you get into trouble - keep praying - you may get out before the devil knows you're there.

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  9. Hi Ken- I stumbled onto your blog and really like it. I'm a follower now. I have a Christian blog too, I was reading the Bible one day and was so touched by the scripture, I wanted everyone to know about it (and out of work). So I started doing Hope Faith and Life. I also wanted people to know what Christians are really like. You are welcome to visit or join my blog too if you like Hope Faith Life. I'm reading through Proverbs right now.

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  10. Thank you everyone for all your comments and may God bless each of you,
    Ken

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