You want me to dance and praise now? ….. What?

Let them praise His name with dancing and make music to him with timbrel and harp. Psalm 149:3 NIV

When you’re in the midst of a crisis, the last thing you want to do is dance, make music or praise God. In fact my first instinct is usually to cry, get angry, or run away from everyone. But, thank goodness over the years, I’ve learned that even though my feelings are real, they’re just temporary. I know that I will praise God even in the midst of my struggle because He’s the ONLY one that’s going to get me through it. Yes, we want to talk to our friends and have someone we can see hear us, and that's the human part of us, but God wants us to be dependent on Him.

Sometimes that’s really hard for me. Recently I was in a situation where I knew I shouldn’t have been, but I went anyway. It was an awful time, and I remember during the night a few times saying to myself and out loud - I hear you Lord. When it was over I called my friend to vent and even though she laughed hysterically at my adventure, she also said you know God was testing you right? And I failed that test because I didn’t listen to the still small voice of The Holy Spirit. I didn’t get mad at God, I was mad at myself for not listening! Then, I said thank you Lord for the additional confirmation, I praised Him and thanked Him for his grace. I listened to some praise and worship music and just chalked it up to experience.

When you’re in the midst of something that hurts, or makes you angry, don’t let your feelings or emotions win. Instead, do what the scripture above says, and praise His name with dancing and making music.