Always Praising?!

As many of you know I have been in a season of waiting. Waiting to go to Honduras, waiting to earn the money to go to Honduras, waiting to get the job to earn the money to go to Honduras...you get the picture. I have been waiting on things for my family as well...waiting for salvations, for them to live fully committed lives, for them to understand what I am doing isn't just something I think will be fun (although it is fun most of the time).

Right alongside this season of waiting has been a season of trusting. Trusting that God will provide. Trusting that He will take care of my family...I mean the guy has the whole world in the palm of His hand, right.

It has seemed like forever. Waiting and trusting takes a long time, but in reality it has only been about a month. So much has happened in this month that I have not really thanked God for. It took Israel 40 years to get to know God, to understand His character and they still got a lot wrong after all that time.

Now I see that along with waiting and trusting should always be praising. We can't just give God props when everything is going like we think it should. We should want to praise Him all of the time and for everything He does for us and to us.

I read something this morning and it really got me..."If you are really in God like you should be then anything that gets to you has been allowed by God to reach you. We should be thankful..." WOW! That paints a picture...I thought of being inside a God bubble and Him approving everything that came inside that bubble. Some of the things I like and some of the things I didn't. Some of them hurt me and some of them were awesome...but they all had purpose, they all took part in shaping me. Therefore I should be grateful, thankful even, for every challenge, every wait, every opportunity to trust and I should PRAISE God in all things.

I'm glad it only took a month for me to figure that one out. I don't want to have to go another 39 years and 11 months without praising God like He deserves. He is my rescuer, my savior, my provider. He is almighty, benevolent, caring, discerning, Elohim, father, great, healer, impassioned, just, kind, love, merciful, near, omniscient, present, quiet, righteous, sinless, trustworthy, unchanging, victorious, worthy, exalted, yearns for us, and He is Zion.

So learn this lesson quick. Through the waiting and trusting make sure you are also praising the God who gave everything for a chance to save you.