Whole Earth Praise

Isaiah 24: ¹⁴ They raise their voices, they shout for joy;
    from the west they acclaim the Lord’s majesty.
¹⁵ Therefore in the east give glory to the Lord;
    exalt the name of the Lord, the God of Israel,
    in the islands of the sea.

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Driving down the street at my normal accelerated pace a jeep turned left in front of me and there was no way to stop. After the head on collision I got out of my junker slightly dazed and shocked that this had happened. “My car is totaled! How am I going to get around?” I thought to myself.

• There are times when things happen.
• There are times when I have lost “stuff.”
• There are times when things break, get lost or stolen.

As I surveyed further I noticed one of the passengers’ from the other car was laying on the ground still. I did not know what to do. Somehow the police just showed up with an ambulance. Everyone was fine. No one was extremely hurt. What did GOD want me to learn?

• GOD wanted me to shout for joy that the other passengers and I were spared.
• GOD wanted me to see HIS protection in the middle of calamity.
• GOD wanted my first reaction to be to think of HIM and how HE is working constantly in my life.

Praise is what was lacking from the story. I should have been praising GOD rather than thinking of my raggedy car. Lives are so much more important than the junk I can accumulate.  Every day I have a reason to praise GOD. It’s up to me to notice.

• Are you in the middle of a situation?
• Have you spewed out poisonous blame and doubt?
• Can you turn your thoughts back to GOD and let HIM revive you HIS way?
• Will you open your mouth and audibly praise HIM?