Tell Yourself To Praise Again | AS BOLD AS LIONS DEVOTIONAL | May 10, 2023

Tell Yourself To Praise Again | AS BOLD AS LIONS DEVOTIONAL | May 10, 2023

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. Psalm 42:11

The life we have in Christ is not always what we expect it to be. We often have a certain notion of how God should move and the way He should answer the prayers we pray. We can experience disappointment, loss, and heartache and question what God is doing through it all. Sometimes we can try our best to rationalize and figure things out within our own headspace. We can rack our brains trying to find the answers when we know ultimately, God is God and what happens is somehow within His control.

In these moments, I find myself identifying with the Psalmist in Psalm 42. I know I’m saddened or confused by a certain situation…maybe it’s how my career is going, a family issue, or something else. And in that, I’m questioning why God is seemingly so far off. But if I approach things like Psalm 42:11, I find I have to literally tell myself what is true again. That my hope is in God. That I must praise Him. That sadness doesn’t reflect the truth of who He is and what He desires from me. In these moments, I find that my desires have not been about Him at all, but for the cares of this life. If I seek Him above the cares, I find the sadness and the doubt melts away and He becomes the once center again. I must tell myself to praise again. We must tell ourselves to praise again.

Question for today: How am I relying upon what I feel verses what I know today? In other words, if I know Christ is true why do I allow my feelings to say otherwise?

Pray: Lord I praise You again today, for who You are! Let the cares of this world fade away. I just want more of You.

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