10 More Days of Praise: Day 5 - Halfway to Success

I'm not at all in a praise frame of mind today. I'm rather downcast and sad and very tired this morning. I can't tell you exactly why because I don't really know. I could list a slew of reason, but they wouldn't mean much to anyone without background.

That's how life is, isn't it? There are days when we're just overwhelmed by a host of concerns, real and imagined, and we can't put our finger on exactly which one is giving us the mulligrubs.

However, I've made a pact to give God 10 More Days of Praise and I take my agreements seriously. Once I say I'm going to do something for someone, most especially God, I do my very best to keep my word.

But I don't feel like praising God today.

If we go by our feelings, we'll never find the time to give God the praise he so deserves. There will always be another pain, heartache, grief, accident, obligation, or souffle to get out of the oven. If we can't find the time to give God praise, I suspect more than the souffle is at risk of burning.

He has made me and supplied my needs. That is what he promised to do. He's kept his word. He also said he'd give me the desires of my heart if I just find my delight in him. I struggle to do that. Do you? So many things in life draw us away from delighting ourselves in God. I don't mean a dance at the altar or a dash around the church. Those are wonderful, to be sure, but generally only occur once or twice a week. That's not the only way to delight yourself in the Lord. I'm talking about continuing delight.

Have you ever seen a child eating their favorite ice cream? Have you ever seen them tumbling with puppies or kittens? Rolling in the floor with their father? How about story time with Mama? The look on their faces and the sound of their giggles are what is known as delight. They are enjoying the moment to the maximum.

There are so many ways to find delight in God. Our service, not only to our church but our families, those in need, the lonely, dejected, depressed, and forgotten all need someone to make them feel loved.

When I find ways to do things on His behalf, even if it is writing a blog post solely to give him Praise and share it with people I may never meet, speak to, or know in my life, I obtain a sense of happiness. When I write these posts I delight myself in Him because when we minister, in whatever way we are able, we minister to Him.

I learned in my last 10 Days of Praise that even on a bad day, writing one post that gives God praise was enough to lift my spirits, even if something hit me to tear me down later in the day. What I gained from the last round lead me to want to do it again.

I am halfway in my 10 More Days of Praise and I realized that it was about this same point I had problems the last time. I don't know if five is some sort of magic number or if halfway is just the natural point that struggle seems to catch up. I know that I had a rough time starting today. But I can't let that stop me. The rewards far outweigh the cost.

Take time today to give God all the praise. I can't improve on Psalms today. This says it best. Take a deep breath, let it out and as you do, give him praise.

Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.
Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.
Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.
Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. --Psalm 150