We Choose Praise: A 3 Day Devotional From Life.Church WorshipSample

What Does It Mean to Choose Praise?

Have you ever made a decision in life based purely on how you were feeling at the time? Maybe you were feeling excited about an upcoming opportunity, so you decided to throw a party to celebrate. Or perhaps you had a bad day, and you thought a little ice cream would help cheer you up.

As humans, it can be easy to let our emotions be the driving force behind some of our decisions. This isn’t always a bad thing—after all, our Creator made us in His image. Our God is an emotional God. Most times, however, our feelings are not the best compass to guide our lives. Emotions are usually signals pointing us to something deeper—a sign that the Lord wants our attention in both mountaintop and valley seasons.

That’s why it’s important to understand that praising God is a choice we can make anytime. Our praise isn’t contingent on what we’re feeling at any given moment or the circumstances we’re walking through. He is the Creator of the universe; the Caretaker of our souls; the One who sent His only Son to die for the sins of all humanity. He is perfect, righteous, and holy. Therefore, we choose praise simply because God is worthy of it.

There are a couple key people in the Scriptures who seem to have grasped this concept well, despite the hardships they faced:

Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship.He said, “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!” Job 1:20-21 NLT

Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my Savior and my God! Psalm 42:11 NLT

In these respective passages, Job and David each modeled what it means to not allow the pain of their experiences to dictate their worship of God. They didn’t negate their feelings. In fact, they were very honest with God about them. But instead of focusing on their current realities, they chose to be anchored in unchanging truth: that God is with them, for them, and full of great plans for them.

We, then, have the same choice. Will we choose to let our circumstances drown out the truth of God’s lovingkindness and faithfulness? Or will we be rooted in faith, trusting that our heavenly Father is who He says He is?

No matter the season, let us choose praise today. Our loving Father is worthy of it all.

-Kailyn Hawkins, Worship Pastor

Listen to “We Choose Praise” wherever you stream music: https://lnk.to/wechoosepraisepresave