Devotionals for the Heart: Learning how to praise God through it all

Learning How to Praise the Lord
A devotional by Hannah Benson

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” –1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (ESV)

Paul’s admonition in the verse above is easier said than done. Rejoice always? Pray without ceasing? Give thanks in all circumstances? Ha. Surely not!

The Bible doesn’t say that we should rejoice in only “pleasurable”, “some,” or even “most” circumstances. It says we are to rejoice in “all circumstances.”

That’s a pretty tough pill to swallow. Especially when life is traumatic, amid a cancer diagnosis, or when the future is unclear.

You might be thinking, “Well, that’s easy for you to say because you’re not going through what I’m going through right now.”

Maybe.

Maybe not.

A few months ago, my mom was diagnosed with the very beginning stages of ovarian cancer. It came out of nowhere. What followed was the most frightening time of our lives. We were terrified. Were we going to lose our mom? It was the most uncertain time of our lives, a time where we had to surrender everything to God.

Yet in the midst of it all, God drew us closer to His heart. A few months after the initial diagnosis and her second surgery, my mom was preparing to go hear her results. I remember sitting at the dinner table with my family a few days before her appointment. “We need to thank God in all circumstances,” I said, “and that includes cancer.”

During the most frightening time of our lives, God grew our faith and stretched our trust in Him in ways I’d never seen before. Despite the fear and pain of the last few months, how could we not see God? How could we not see His hand in everything?

Even my little brother grew in his faith walk with God in a way I’d never seen before. With tears in his eyes, I remember him telling Mom, “I believe you’re going to be a walking miracle.”

The day our mom went to the doctor to receive her results, he said that he wanted to make a cake with the name of the hospital on it. Had it ever been done before? He didn’t know, but he wanted to make a cake to celebrate even though, at the time, he had no way of knowing what her results would be. The rest of us agreed, saying, “Yes, let’s make a cake!” We said we would put the words, “Give thanks in all circumstances” on the cake as well, because no matter what Mom’s results were, we wanted to praise the LORD.

We had already made the decision to praise God regardless of the outcome. But when her results came back clear, and we received the joyous news that she was cancer-free, don’t you think praising God is exactly what we did?

Even though our story had a happy ending, I know it’s not the same for everybody. But living through one of the darkest, scariest times of my life, I can tell you that choosing to worship God no matter what, well, it’s worth it.

I believe that it is in the darkest times that hope shines the brightest. In a similar way, we notice a candle gleaming in a dark room, but would we even notice it if it were outside where the sun is shining?

Friend, pain will either draw us closer to God or push us further away. It depends on how we choose to respond. No matter what we’re going through today, let’s choose to praise the LORD!

Let’s Pray:
Dear Father God, thank you for giving me reason to rejoice even when all is dark! Please help me to praise you no matter what happens. You are good and kind and hold my future in Your hand. Thank you for hope! In Jesus’s Name I pray. Amen.

Song of Reflection: “Praise the Lord” by Micah Tyler. Listen to it here.

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Author Bio:

Hannah Benson is a Jesus-follower who’s passionate about sharing the love of Christ with others. 

From the time she could hold a pen, she was writing. But it wasn’t until she was sixteen that she began to seriously follow God’s calling to write a novel. Hannah is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and has at least four novels in the works. For the past five years, she has been involved with her local Biblical theater company. She wants to show others the love of Jesus through the creative arts.

When she’s not acting or working on her upcoming novel, you can find Hannah laughing with her siblings, cuddling her little fluffy dog, or reading books (usually historical fiction or fantasy stories). You can read more of Hannah’s writings on her blog or on her Instagram where she strives to write content that leaves others feeling encouraged.

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Connect with Hannah:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hannahlynnauthor/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Hannah-Lynn-Writer/100073790792576/
Blog: www.loveunconditional.blog