Praise Him!

2 Timothy 4:18

"And, the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!"

Last night was a powerful night in Jr. High. One of our youth leaders Katherine spoke and she was talking about praising God through trials. She talked about a portion in Acts where Paul and Silas were thrown in prison, they began to sing praises to God at midnight. An earthquake struck, the walls fell, and the next thing you know, the very jailer who was responsible for chaining them up and whipping them asked, "What must I do to be saved?"

I woke up this morning and opened one of the email devotionals I get and low and behold, It was this same portion of scripture. My automatic reaction is "oh great, do I have another trial coming." I shared this with Scott and he said, that while Katherine was sharing last night, he was thinking about what happened when Paul and Silas began to praise...their chains fell off. The things that entrapped them were removed. God is so amazing and I believe this is what he is doing. As we praise him, he is removing the things in our lives that are holding us back. I believe we serve a good God who desires good things for His people. I wanted to share this because I don't think it wasn't an accident that I have heard this portion multiple times this week. It definately hit home for me in this area of Praise in my life and I hope it will touch you too. 

As many of you know, my Uncle Guy passed away recently and I have yet to write about it because honestly I just didn't even know what to say. But, as I am thinking about this area in my life, I go back to the moment when I found out he passed away. I did ALOT of questioning and have been doing that ever since the day he went to be with Jesus. And, I know it is only natural to go through the emotions of sadness and loss. But, I also know that Gods plan is sovereign and I need to trust Him and Praise Him simply because he is good and because I have been privileged enough to know that he is good. So, Lord today I praise you for your goodness and I thank you for being faithful to us even when we don't understand!