Throughout the Psalms we find the call to praise God repeated over and over again! One thing that many may not think of when they read them is the fact that most of these written by David were in times of great distress. The praise we give to God should not be dependent upon the circumstances that we find in our lives, but in the response to the glory of the One whom is our creator and our redeemer. You think that this is just being given by one who has not seen or does not understand the struggles that many are facing. I write this just after sitting with the mother and grandmother of a four month old child that had just passed, recovering from illness that took my family out of commission for more than a week, and having had to be with another family as they mourned the loss of a nineteen year old to an accidental death and still see the pain in the fathers eyes as I see him and remember the great talent of this young man that I confirmed. But I praise God because I had the opportunity to baptize this infant in a period that his heart had begun to weakly beat again before he coded once more (God had given time for this grace), I praise God because I recovered and my family is coming back to health, and I praise God for the time that I did have with the nineteen year old and had opportunities to speak with him about his faith. I praise God because He raises us above the fray of this broken and fallen world and in spite of the struggles I can come to Him and weep knowing that I have a Lord that weeps with me and truly understands the pain of us mortals and cares about me.
God is not distant, but near and for that I praise God. He is still here and cares about his creation that includes little, old me. And I praise God that this love extends to you too!

As I hear the words of the ER nurse that was working to revive this young infant, "In this dark world God give us this child." As I saw the tears stream down the faces of the nurses, doctor, and EMTs that had  worked to revive this child, I praise God that these people that did not know this child invested of themselves to try and revive the life of this little one. I praise God for the love that poured out of them to a little one that they did not truly know, but the compassion welled up in them because they saw the value of this little life.

All is not lost in this world and the darkness cannot overcome the light of our Lord! For that I praise God. Each day we are faced with difficulty and pain, that is inevitable, but our hearts must not be hardened by it! We have a God that loves and cares for each of us, no matter how insignificant we may feel we are, He loves me and He loves you. Praise God!

May the love of Christ fill your heart in the midst of all suffering and pain and may you feel the joy that He passes on to you.