It is one thing to love God when everything is going great. It is another to love Him when your hopes have been dashed. It is another thing to love Him when tragedy suddenly and un-welcomed invades your life. It is one thing to praise God on Sunday morning with the throngs of worshipers surrounded by musicians and gifted vocalists.
Praising God in the midst of tragedy like Job experienced in chapter one of his book is rare. It is easier to cast blame at God when the tough times come. It is easier to accuse God of being unfaithful than to praise Him in the storms. It is easier to doubt than to trust, to blame than to bless, and to fold rather than to face the truth that God is trustworthy and praiseworthy all of the time.
Tonight as we embark on the last leg of this journey back home (we just crossed over into Texas) I just watched a video where former NFL quarterback, Randall Cunningham, gave testimony about God being praiseworthy and trustworthy. This even though his two year old son drowned in the same hot tub where Cunningham, who now serves as a pastor, baptizes new converts.
I wonder, as I continue to draw near to God, how shallow my love and devotion really are. Would I seek Him, love Him, worship Him, and serve Him if I faced adversity. Would I exalt God like Job did in [Job 1:20-121] Would you hear praises coming from my mouth at the midnight hour after I had been beaten and bruised. Would you hear me praising God that I had been countedworthy to be beaten for Him like the apostles in Acts 4 and Acts 5.
I have seen many suffer and still praise. I have watched grieving widows and widowers weep beside caskets where the lifeless shell of their spouse lay. I have seen the terminally ill die well with praises on their mouths despite the excruciating pain. I have read of those who have been martyred and did so with love of God in their hearts.
Do I have that kind of love and devotion in me. It is easy to praise God coming home from camp. The worship times were intense. The Bible studies were riveting. Those were good times but we are fast approaching the real world. These students have a great deal to face. Temptations will abound. Traps will be set by the enemy.
Will we still worship? Will we still love and serve God when things do not turn out like we planned. I am challenged tonight by Randall Cunningham's testimony. I am challenged by his love and devotion to God. I am challenged by the fact he still baptizes in the same hot tub his son drowned in. That is faith, love, and devotion at a level I have never known. Only God can bring that to me. I pray for the real substance to praise Him in the good times and to praise Him in the bad times. I pray for the real life substance of a faith that can withstand whatever God allows to come my way.
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