No matter what…God deserves to be praised.  Regardless of what we are going through or how we feel, God deserves to be praised.  This makes me think of the U.S. Postal Service—rain, snow, sleet or shine they deliver the mail.  And, like them, in rain, snow, sleet or shine, we should speak our praises to the Lord.

I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak His praises.
I will boast only in the Lord; let all who are helpless take heart.
Come, let us tell of the Lord ’s greatness; let us exalt His name together.
Psalms 34: 1-3

Psalms 34:1-3 petitions the helpless to tell of the Lord’s greatness. The ‘helpless’ are the last people you would think of who would be speaking praises to God. You would  expect them to be shouting demands and asking for help, not speaking praises. I mean who really feels like praising anything when things are crumbling around them? I’ll be the first to say…’not me’. The thing is this—praise is more than just words. Our praise is evident in our actions and our attitudes.

Look at the widow in Mark 12:42, “Then a poor widow came and dropped in two small coins….” This poor widow came to the temple and gave (according to my Study Bible) the equivalent of a day’s wages. Talk about having the opportunity to not want to do something! I think that this widow was able to give as she did because she knew that God is a good God and that He would provide for her.

When our praises seem to be costing us much is when the true test begins. How hard is it to give 10 dollars when you have $1000.00? Would it not much more difficult to give 10 dollars when 20 dollars is all we had? And what of preaching the gospel? Some people face prison, exile, and even death to share the good news! And yet we, who have freedom of speech and no such impending doom to linger over our heads, why do we not share the gospel more?

Praise. God is worthy of our praise…all day, every day!

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Lord, I pray that I will praise You not only when doing so is easy or convenient but continuously…regardless of the circumstances.  In Jesus’ name, amen.