“I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. My soul will boast in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together.” (Psalm 34:1-3 NIV)
As one who lives with chronic illness and pain it can be quite difficult at times to always praise the Lord and rejoice. Most of the time we just want to pull the covers over our head and shut the world out and hope our pain leaves with the rest of the world.
Unfortunately the pain doesn’t leave and we are faced with another painful day. I know, I tried to shut the whole world out for a couple of years. All that I accomplished was I lost friends, alienated my family and became a bitter person.
Then one day I took a long look at myself in the mirror. Not only didn’t I like the person on the outside, but I especially didn’t like the person on inside. I thought to myself, if I didn’t like what I see then how can I expect others to want to be around me? So I decided I needed a major attitude adjustment; but where was I to begin or go to help me make the change?
I went to the only One who could help me. I turned to the One the Psalmist went to whenever He was discouraged, in pain, or being sought after by his enemies. I opened my Bible to the book of Psalms and these verses practically leaped off the page. At first it was difficult to praise the Lord, some days I didn’t even want to praise Him. But after time I started to make a list of Praise. It was a small list at first, but over time the Praise list has grown. When I took my eyes off of me and focused on Who and What the Lord is and what that means to me, I was able to rejoice in my afflictions and glorify the Lord.
Prayer: Dear Lord, may the pain of my affliction never be so great that I would not be able to praise You for being my Creator and Savior. Amen.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Michele Williams is a pastor’s wife, mother, grandmother, counselor, teacher, public speaker, business woman, and writer, who is trusting in God that He will strengthen her to rise above life's difficulties. Since 1985 Michele has lived with multiple chronic illnesses: Fibromyalgia, CFS, ME, Peripheral Neuropathy, Interstitial cystitis, IBS, chemical sensitivities, to name a few. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her husband of 34 years, their two dogs and a cat. Visit Michele’s very encouraging blog at: http://michele-risingabove.blogspot.com/
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