Choose to Praise
“He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.”— Psalm 40:2
It has been almost forty years since I first came to faith in Jesus, and I know that if Jesus had not broken into my world, I surely would have been destroyed. Maybe you can relate. Even if you are not as far along in your Christian journey as you would like to be, you know that it is only because of Yeshua that you are where you are today. Where would you be without Him?
Reminding yourself of what God has done in your life is one of the most powerful things you can do as a believer in Jesus. Cultivating an attitude of gratitude gets your focus off your problems and on the One who saves. It gives you hope in the middle of life’s storms as you think about what God has already done for you. He never changes. If God brought you through your last trial, He will bring you through this one too.
Some people think we praise God for His benefit. But God does not need our praise. We need it. We need to remind ourselves of His love and goodness. Because God loves you, He saved you. He brought you up out of the pit of destruction and set your feet upon a rock. Do you really think He will abandon you now?
You may be going through a difficult time in your life. You might be facing marital difficulties or finan- cial hardship or a health crisis. Whatever the situation, I want to challenge you to look at the big picture. Think about how far you’ve come and what would have happened if Jesus had not come into your life and redeemed you, and then choose to be thankful and trust Him now.
God uses life’s challenges to make us stronger. So don’t wallow in your current state. Give God glory. Rejoice and be thankful even in the midst of the trial because of what God has already done—He has brought you out of the pit and saved you from destruction.
Father God, I choose to praise and trust You even in the midst of my trials because You have already done so much for me. You saved me and brought me up out of the pit of destruction. Because You love me, I will spend eternity with You. Help me to cultivate an attitude of gratitude to bless and trust You at all times. Help me to not let my trials overshadow my consciousness of Your goodness toward me.
Rabbi Kirt A. Schneider, Rivers of Revelation (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2020), Used by permission.