Praise Him Even When Everything Goes Wrong

So, your phone breaking is not the end of the world. But it can be frustrating enough that it certainly feels like it. Last Saturday, my phone started shutting off and restarting on its own. Sometimes it doesn't restart. I was finally able to install the update at the request of the tech people, but it didn't help at all. On Tuesday, I didn't have a phone all day - it shut off at 7:15am and didn't come back on until Wednesday morning.

I have an appointment Saturday to have it looked at, but that's a whole week from when this started, and by Wednesday, I was pretty frustrated. It had been on Wednesday, and aside from shutting off and restarting a few times, didn't seem to have the major problem it had of turning off and not turning back on. Until I got in the car to go home. I was checking an app, and it froze in the middle of what I was doing. It didn't just turn off; the screen froze and then it turned off.

Now, I'm pretty tired on Wednesday nights and sometimes I argue with myself about whether or not I should go to church or stay home. I usually win. Going to church is more important - unless I'm sick, in which case I want to stay home and rest so I don't get worse.

So, I went to church, determined to give God glory in spite of my frustration with my phone. What I didn't expect, was how much I would praise God while I was there.

Normally, I sing with the praise team, but I'm the sound room backup if the main guy can't make it. He wasn't there Wednesday so I ended up in the back. Once I get the sound set, and everyone can hear everyone else and the musicians, and everything sounds good, I like to sing. Well, Wednesday, I didn't just sing. I sang loud. And I put my hands in the air, and I almost laughed my head off. I found such joy on Wednesday night that it was hard to keep worrying about my phone, or anything else for that matter.

In spite of how much I didn't feel like going to church at the beginning, once I got there and started praising God, I remembered how insignificant my phone is. I remembered how awesome God is. And I remembered that no matter what is going on in our lives, whether it's going right or wrong, we have to praise God. And when it's going wrong, we should praise Him even louder. That brings our negative thoughts about whatever situation we're in under subjection to God. It reminds us that nothing - no situation, no phone - is more important than God, and that nothing we do - certainly not worry - is more important than praising Him.

So, I hope that by writing this, I've helped someone, and that the next time any of us gets into a frustrating situation, we remember to turn it over to God, and just start to praise Him.

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Psalm 30:4-5: Sing praise to the Lord, you His godly ones, and give thanks to His holy name. For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning.