At All Times

I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall be continually in my mouth. 2 My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; The humble shall hear of it and be glad. 3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together. 4 I sought the Lord, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears. Psalms 34:1-4 (NKJV)

I can tell that I have spend a lot of my time singing songs of praise to the Lord, because they are firmly entrenched in my brain. Often, in the midst of stress, I hear them playing back to me and bringing words of encouragement. "Yes," you heard it right--my brain plays back worship music like an endless MP3 loop. I am pretty sure that I'm not going crazy, but the habit of worshiping of God has found a place deep within my psychological makeup.

Life is full of opportunities for the creation of stress. They come rolling our way in waves as varied in size as the waves of the ocean. We know that the waves are coming, we just don't know how big they are going to be. A couple of years ago, Jody and I went on a cruise to Alaska with my parents and siblings to celebrate my father's 80th birthday. For about 12 hours the ocean became unexpectedly rough and suddenly it was a challenge to walk and keep lunch down. I actually found the experience somewhat exhilarating, but was sorry for those who suffered with sea sickness.

Life can be rough! Waves of different sizes roll over our lives and it is daunting just to keep our equilibrium. If you feel overwhelmed by the happenstance of life you just joined a global network that includes every sane person on planet earth. At some point in life everyone faces a crashing wave that is beyond simple solutions and trite platitudes. So, how can we cope with the stress that is a product of the unwelcomed, unexpected, overwhelming circumstances of life? Well...I sing to the Lord...I sing and pray until I am touched with the peace that passes understanding.

Prayer: "Dear heavenly Father, I love to sing Your praises, in fact--I could worship You every moment of every day and it would not be enough to completely express the deeply held gratitude of my heart. It is an understatement to say, 'You are worthy of praise." You are worthy of honor, glory, power, adoration, and all the passion that I can muster. Thank you for the love, goodness, blessing, mercy and grace that You consistently send my way. Amen"