When Praise Is A Sacrifice

It is easy to praise God when things are going great. At church and the music is just right what you needed. Praise can come easy. But what about times of trouble and praising God then.

You know those time when there is a diagnosis of cancer. The loss of a job. Something goes wrong after surgery and you are in extreme pain. You daughter takes her kids and goes back to an abusive ex. Or your son comes home from working the closing shift at his store later than normal and is visibly upset.

The last example was me. My son had a customer acting strangely in the store that he was trying to help. When he had to go clock out he thought that was it.  But then once he walked out of the doors and started towards his car the guy honked and motioned for him to come to his car, engine running and door open. My son refused and kept walking to his car. the guy came up and stopped behind his car and eventually left. While in the store he told my son this is serious stuff and not to tell anyone. My son wasn’t the only one that had a hard time going to sleep. All I could think about was what was this guy’s intentions? My mind and heart were racing. Sleep was elusive.

Both Jeremiah 33:11 and Hebrews 13:15, talk about giving God a sacrifice of praise. What is interesting is that the Hebrew word in Jeremiah — towdah– means a sacrifice of praise/ thanksgiving offering. While Hebrews defines a sacrifice of praise as a thanksgiving offering.

With that in mind, I laid in bed last night not able to sleep I started to praise God that my son was home safe. Nothing happened to him. We were all safe and sound. As I listed off thing I was thanking God for and praising Him for a calm sense of peace flood over me and I drifted off to sleep.

When you are stressed, in a trial, and have a restless heart give God a sacrifice of praise/thanksgiving offering.

For more about what to do when you have a restless heart check out Let God Settle Your Restless Heart by Andy Lee

(Photo by Diana Simumpande on Unsplash)