Today Oh! (No matter what I face...)

Today Oh!
I will lift up my voice in praise
Today Oh!
I will lift up my voice in praise
For I know, you are always there for me
Almighty God
You're my All in All
No Matter what I face
When trouble comes my way
I will praise you Lord

That's another praise song that I love and that ministers to me so much.

I have been singing the above song for over 10 years now, and it never gets old! (over 10 years? gosh I'm getting old!) :-)

I was privileged to have been at a spectacular praise evening where the songwriter himself Mr (Pastor)Wale Adenuga gave a poignant introduction to the song. He spoke about how he and his family members faced difficulties at that period he penned the song which is a conviction in itself that no matter the circumstance, he will choose to praise the Lord.

You know, it is so easy to praise God when all is going well. I know this sounds so cliche but recently I have come to kinda understand what the 'sacrifice' of praise means. Praise in dark and very low times, praise when you feel genuinely that God is being 'unfair' to you, praise when you don't have anything at all, praise when you have literally lost everything, praise when others are being hugely successful and moving forward in life and you seem to be stagnant and lagging behind, praise when everything around you seems to be un-praiseful (yup, I sorta coined that word).

If we are being honest, it is easier to praise, sing, dance and rejoice when things are wonderful, when things are at least alright and manageable. When God has just blessed you / you have just passed an exam / been given a promotion and a raise / met a wonderful man or woman / had a beautiful baby / received an answer to your prayers and so on.

But, honestly? It's tough to praise God when "trouble comes our way". In fact people don't like when trouble comes their way hence why many people have re-phrased the last part of that song to say "Whatever comes my way" or "When success comes my way"... There's nothing wrong with praying for good things and success etc but the reality of life is that there will be times when trouble will come. Now, that is when the test of the 'sacrifice' of praise comes in.

Just like love in marriage, praise is a conscious decision you make, to do at all times, both the good and the bad. Not just when things are rosy but even when your mouth would rather keep quiet than sing a tune, when you'd rather just sit down than 'jump for joy' (at that point you're thinking "why?!").

It is difficult to praise God when you've just lost a loved one, it is difficult when you are faced with a completely hopeless situation, it is difficult to praise when you are on the death bed. But Praise we must choose to do, for in that we show our unstinting love to the One who deserves it. For then, we put into action what we pledged to do in the good days, for then we prove to HIM that 'I love you, I sincerely do'.

AND through Praise you can surely overcome.

I have been in that place whereby people around me were rejoicing and dancing (serious dance oh!lol), praising God, and you could just see the visible joy of the Lord on people's faces but I just had tears in my eyes because at that time, I felt God had deserted me and let me down on many fronts. And sometimes, you may feel like that (we are human after-all, Lord have mercy!). But I urge you, just like I did then to ask God for grace and find the strength to praise Him right now (or right then) through the tears, and honestly, His presence through praise makes a mighty huge difference! + You are offering and sowing a deep sacrifice that will ultimately yield a bountiful reward.

I love that song (and sing it in its original form) because I know that unpleasant things will come, but 'no matter what I face, even when trouble comes my way, I will (still choose) to praise God (My awesome and loving God, The Ultimate ONE)



xxxx

PS
God is good, even when the situation says otherwise, even when we do not understand 'why'? I have a firm belief that for the things we go through now that look like there are no answers to, when we come face-to-face with Him on the last day, there will be a complete answer to it all. I know it sounds far-fetched but we need to understand that God is good and everything about Him is LOVE. He is NOT a wicked God. He is a just God, He is fair, He is kind and He loves us.

(May God's comfort and peace guard the hearts of those who are hurting right now due to one loss or the other, especially as a result of the recent Dana air crash. God almighty wrap you in His love and make you feel Him close to you)
Why some things happen? I don't know but one thing I