STAND IN FAITH: 7 DAY DEVOTIONALSample

DAY 2: RAISE YOUR VOICE

I realise that singing is probably the furthest thing from your mind right now – crying, complaining, swearing is probably more what you want to do. But the Bible tells us in Isaiah that our circumstances don’t determine what comes out of our mouth, God does! We can sing, even if we are in the worst of circumstances. I may not be able to control the circumstances around me right now, but I can control my reaction to those circumstances, and I choose to praise! We can raise our voices in praise no matter what happens, and we should! Now, more than ever, the world needs to hear your praise!

And Isaiah doesn’t stop there – Sing, burst into song, shout for joy! Oh, that’s a little extreme Katie! I know, right. When you go through incredibly hard times, bursting into song is not what you feel like doing. Shouting, yes, but shouting for joy? No! The Bible tells us to rise above our circumstances, lift our heads, lift our hearts and sing and shout praises to our God. I have been through some incredibly hard times and I have to tell you, putting on worship music, singing and shouting at first is hard. But as you give it a go, your Spirit kicks in and you feel the joy rising on the inside, hope begins to rise and the fear can’t stay, just try it. Why does this happen? Because praise lifts your head, your heart and your soul above the circumstances. It raises your head and your eyes to God, literally. Trying shouting as loud as you can with your head downcast – you can’t! 

Lastly, notice who is doing the singing and shouting in this verse. A barren woman – in the Ancient Near East, only God could help a barren woman. There was no other way she personally could fix her issue. To be barren was a sentence of humiliation, shame, it brought dishonour on her husband, her family as well as herself. That is why, in Isaiah 54:4, God tells her to not be afraid, that she will not suffer shame, don’t fear humiliation or disgrace. So God tells this barren woman to shout above her pain, her shame, shout above the circumstances that she cannot change. Shout praise to the One who will change your circumstances, shout praise above the fear and anxiety. God can change your situation, so shout, go wild in praise, sing at the top of your lungs and show your circumstances that you will not go quietly into the night, you will sing your way into victory!