Lord,
Praising you has always come easy for me. I offer up my heart in surrender and in return, you fill me with Your presence. I like to think I don’t selfishly praise you to get something out of it, but I can’t say that doesn’t happen. I long for the peace you so willing pour over me. I rest in your embrace and I needily grab the calming hush that washes through my mind and heart.
But what about the times I can’t give over my pain, my hurt, my anger. What happens when the world around me shakes so hard that I can’t stand on my own two feet. My fists clench so tight they are unable to feel anything but the pain from my fingernails. What happens when my sorrow is so great I can’t utter a word from my quivering lip. My throat so dry, praises can’t pass through it. My brain can’t fathom anything but the despair it’s in.
What happens then…
I believe that it’s in these times where You urge me to praise You, not for Your own gain, but for mine. You draw me so much closer in these times. It’s here where we need to cry out to You, to yell and scream, to sob, and just be still. Even if we can’t physically say the words, we need to come to you with a praising heart. With a heart that still yearns for You, just because You are You and we need nothing but You. And when everything seems like it’s being ripped away, we always and forever have You. You are a God who loves us so much that You count the tears that come from our hearts...even if those tears are the tears of frustration towards You. They are not deserved, they are not just. But even in that, You accept them so that they do not burden us anymore.
