https://odb.org/2024/11/25/being-thankful-despite-trials
Psalm 100 – 1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3 Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the Lord is good, and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations
There will be patches of difficult times as we go through life. Sometimes, it is just the rigours of living. Like those times when we were younger and saving every extra penny we could, and something unexpected happens where we needed to spend RM800 when our savings had just reached a milestone of RM1,000. Such a disappointment! Of course, it is much worse if we need to spend RM2,000 when we only have RM1,000 saved! It is even worse if we had come into the predicament from our own doing. It is important for us to have savings and some capital as we work. For the rainy day. No matter how little or how much we earn, a little should nevertheless be set aside.
The question this morning is, could we praise God in good and bad times? Or, more pointedly, could we praise God in bad and difficult times? It is easier said than done. We rejoice when our needs are met, our bills are paid, and we have leisure time to indulge in our favourite things. We rejoice when we have achieved something, a milestone like my second son’s 21st birthday yesterday. But if we are struggling to pay our bills or have to prioritise our payments and defer some, it is not easy to praise God. In fact, we may be questioning why God’s blessings are not with us?
Everyone’s needs and wants are different. Some people are good eating one meal a day, while to some others, not eating 5 meals a day is hardship and a trial! While to others, eating mixed rice for every lunch is such a torture when there will be many who are happy to even have a decent and proper meal.
It is between us and God what is hardship, what are trials and tribulations. But it is essential for us to be able to praise God like the Psalmist in Psalm 100, no matter our circumstances.
Shout for joy to the LORD, worship Him in gladness and joy. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and praise! Give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the LORD is good and His love endureth forever!
Have a great week ahead, everyone! Praise Him and give thanks to Him, no matter how bad our day is! For we still have breath to fight another day! Amen!
Ronnie's Thoughts 