Sing Praise!

Psalm 98 declares: Make a joyful noise to the Lord all the earth! Break forth into songs and sing praises!

Yesterday we reflected on how there are times when our hearts naturally burst with praise. However, we must acknowledge that there are other times in our lives, when our hearts are heavy, when we find ourselves sick with worry, and we feel no praise.

In my own life, I got a little taste of this with a back injury I suffered recently. For weeks, I had a hard time walking or even standing for more than just a few minutes. Early on, I so easily found I was feeling sorry for myself. I know that many of you have dealt with similar injuries. They are not that uncommon. And yet, I still wanted to throw myself a pity party!

Then one day I received a text from my brother-in-law that said simply, “Joe, I’m thinking about you. Sorry you are going through all this.”  The thing is, my brother-in-law has stage four lung cancer. He doesn’t know how long he has.  All that he is going through, and he’s still thinking about others.  Talk about an enormous shift in perspective!

I can tell you, that one of the things that helped from that moment on was to make a short gratitude list. Every morning before getting out of bed and every evening before going to bed, I would try to find the blessings and the beauty in life, and make a list:

I’m grateful that my back injury is not permanent… I will be able to walk and hopefully surf again… I’m grateful for modern medicine… I’m grateful for my church family, for all the prayers and support. I’m grateful for Robbie. I don’t know what I would do without her. I’m grateful for the health and well-being of my children…

And then, even the little things: I’m grateful this morning for the birds singing outside my window. I’m grateful I have ears to hear the birds singing. I’m grateful for the way the sunlight is hitting the spring leaves on the trees. I’m grateful for the smell of coffee in the morning. I’m grateful for that hug from my daughter just before bed.

With these short, simple lists, I found my spirits lifting. I am reminded that it is easy to give praise when things are going well; however, it is perhaps more important to do so when things are not.

Let us pray: I praise you O God, for you are found even in the menial mundane details of life. I praise you for you for the gifts of friendship and love, and for the way in which you walk with us through the ups and downs of life. Open my eyes and my ears and my heart that I would be attuned to your grace, and respond with all my soul. I ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.