A Lesson In Praise And Faith And Temptation

An old journal entry I recently came across. It reminds me of lessons I forgot regarding praise, faith, prayer, obedience and temptation. I hope it does the same for you.

Back story: At that time I had no car and walked everywhere. I lived about a 2 hour walk from where I worked. This was written upon my arrival home one October evening....

10/28/1999
Praise God on high forever! For You are the giver of strength! You are the giver of tests, and You are the answer! Thank you, oh my wonderful God of deliverance!

I left work praising You. I got outside and got nervous, but I continued to sing praises at the top of my voice to You! I entered a quiet neighborhood, but I let my voice echo in praises to You off of all the buildings; for You gave me the voice to bring glory to You. I approached the busy business district. I continued to sing praises to You for all to see and hear the wonders of God on high; God almighty.
Then I approached a school as it was getting out, and students stared and laughed, but I continued to praise God (who stood boldly for me, so I stood boldly for Him).

Then came the tests.
A voice said to my spirit, “Stop singing. Listen for awhile. Be silent and see what God has to say to you.” It sounded right at first. But then came the Scriptures: “Thy praise shall continually be in my mouth,” “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord,” “Shout to the Lord of hosts,” and so on; so I continued to praise You out loud.
Then my voice got hoarse, and I considered stopping to save my voice for church. But then I remembered that it’s not my voice anyway, but Yours to give or take away as you please. Also, I remembered, I did not sing praise to You at church to show off. So I continued to sing Your praises out loud with a hoarse voice.
The hoarseness went away, then my throat started hurting. At this point, I realized that Satan was trying to stop me from praising the true God out loud, so I sang louder the praises of Jesus the Christ.
The soar throat went away, but then a bee landed on my bare hand. I continued to praise You, who gave the bee life. I was able to swat it off without getting stung; giving me even more to praise You for.

You, oh God of might, never fail Your people, and You dwell in their praises. Thank You, my only worthy God, for letting me bless You with the voice which was Your gift. Thank You,

Father. Thanks be to God forever and ever! Amen!
For YOU are the giver of my strength, Lord Jesus, and You give me the ability to overcome temptation and to praise Your Name. Thank You, God. Thank You, my wonderful Father.

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