Early this morning I wrote an entire blog and then lost the whole thing! So……..now I’m going to give this another shot. Early this morning as I sat out on my deck watching the sunrise praise filled my heart.   It’s hard not to feel thankful about such a glorious morning. Then I turned to Psalm 103, one of my favorites and began to read, “Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise His holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things He does for me.” (Psalm 103:1-2) I began to think back to a time when I didn’t feel like praising God because life was hard; cancer, sexual abuse memories, difficult church situation for my hubby, and over all feelings of depression. But as I sat outside watching the hues of pink, purple and orange fill the sky I remembered how good God has been to me since that dark time and how grateful I am to Him. I remember during those years meditating on Habakkuk 3:17-18, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” Rejoicing in God during that season of life meant my joy came from HIm. It wasn’t that I was jumping up and down excited about having cancer nor remember the horrible sexual abuse. It was that as I praised God for who He was, He met me in my darkness and I experienced His presence more than I ever had. HIs presence is where there is joy.

It was during those very challenging years that I learned the power of making praise a priority in my life.  Friend, no matter what is going on in your life, try praising God for who He is. Praise Him by faith that you can trust Him even though you may not feel that way. Praise Him that He loves you, even though you may not feel that way. Praise Him that He is good even though you may not feel that way. When you choose to make praise a priority in your life God transforms you in ways you can’t even imagine. So why not give it a shot? Thoughts?