Keep your praise on

The life of a woman comes with juggling a variety of responsibilities, looking nice and pretty even though on the inside she may be hurting and going through different challenges and trials of life.

Appearances can be deceptive and in this era of pomp, show and packaging, what someone is going through isn’t always obvious. For instance, a single woman may look at her married friends and feel life is great for them. They don’t have to attend family gatherings and social engagements on their own. They don’t get back home after a hard day’s work and curl up alone in bed with nobody to talk to, there’s someone right by their side to share all their troubles and frustrations with. They don’t have people asking them everywhere they turn, so when are you getting married? Looking at marriage through the lens of a single lady, you may believe that marriage completely settles and sorts out every woman.

But marriage comes with its own set of challenges.

There are annoying habits of your spouse you have to cope with, tantrum throwing children to deal with, children getting involved with drugs or cultist activities in spite of your doing your best to bring them up in the way of the Lord, or you may even have to wait for years you never envisaged, before you have a child. Not to talk of the being bombarded with wanted and unwanted, helpful and unhelpful advice on how to run your home.

The same applies to relocating to another state or country, a new job, a promotion. We never get to a stage in life where we cross our legs, sip a cup of tea and say at last no more trials, no problems, no challenges, no pain, no  shedding of tears.

Jesus categorically told us that in this world we have trouble (John 16:33). The statement applies whether you are young or old, rich or poor, educated or uneducated, married or single.

We are all at different seasons of life and going through different things, but in every situation that comes our way, there’s one thing God wants from every woman irrespective of our present circumstances. God wants us to keep our praise on!

Praise shouldn’t be determined by our circumstances but on the greatness, majesty and reliability of our God.

Praising God in the face of a storm, trial or challenge does the following:

• Praise shows that even though you don’t know how or when God will do it, you trust Him to handle the situation (Psalm 56:3-4, Habakkuk 3:17-18).
• Praise shifts your focus from the problem to God. Focusing on a problem brings fear and anxiety, focusing on God gives hope, builds faith, magnifies God and makes the problem look so small next to God. Praise is a faith booster, a fear and doubt quencher (Psalm 34:1-3).
• Praise lifts up your spirit, it puts a cheer in your heart and a smile on your face. Keep your praise on to drive away sadness, discouragement and depression (Psalm 42:11, Psalm 43:5).
• Praise invites the power and presence of God into that situation and where God’s power and presence is there are blessings, testimonies and miracles. Praise opens you up to divine possibilities in the midst of impossibilities (Psalm 22:3, 2 Chronicles 20:18-22).
• Praise sends confusion into the camp of your enemies; those that don’t want to see you progress in life, those that are plotting to harm and hurt you. Praise releases you from every prison the enemy has locked you in. Praise is a potent weapon of warfare (2 Chronicles 20: 22, Acts 16:25-26).
• Praise shows you understand what you were created to do which is to give God pleasure, to lift up His praise no matter what comes your way (Isaiah 43:21, Revelation 4:11).

May our lives be full of God’s blessings, testimonies and miracles as we keep our praise on!

Even in a storm, trial or challenge, whether single or about to tie the knot, whether you are a newlywed or this year marks your 50th wedding anniversary, whether unemployed or the head of a major corporation, whether you haven’t had cause to take any medication for years or you are lying on a hospital bed, whether you just had a big testimony or you are still waiting for God to answer your prayers, in season and out of season; whatever situation you find yourself, keep your praise on!

By Tesh Njokanma

Tesh Njokanma is a lawyer by training whose heart is in writing. She is a prolific writer with over 15 years experience as a magazine editor. Tesh is a pastor in The Redeemed Christian Church of God, with a teaching and prayer ministry. She is married to Chude Njokanma and blessed with children. Tesh and her family are based in Lagos, Nigeria. More of her amazing writing is here: http://www.teshnwritings.com/