Amazing Praise
“Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness. . .
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.” (Psalm 150 ESV)
One day I sent a beloved friend and mentor an e-mail with the words on the subject line, “Amazing Praise.” I shared with her something beautiful God had done in my life that took under 5 minutes. Less than 24 hours later, she sent me a reply e-mail sharing with me her joy over the praise. When I saw again the words, “Amazing praise,” something dawned on me. What I had shared with her, in the grand scheme of things, in the world’s eyes, in the context of 49 years of my life, in comparison to all the praises of all people throughout time, in the context of all of eternity, was absolutely indescribably, unbelievably, unfathomably insignificant. I had shared with her something someone had done that had taken a matter of five minutes. Something so ordinary, so seemingly run of the mill, most people would not have noticed. Even I myself would not have noticed – without the Holy Spirit moving on my heart. Not so very long ago at all, I would have missed the glory of the Lord in what had occurred. The details don’t matter; the message in this testimony does – for us all.
How often do we miss God’s sovereignty, amazingness, awesomeness, majesty, beauty, magnificence, goodness, provision, miracles, supernatural power, orchestration, unfathomable love, oh so phenomenal mercy, unsurpassable grace, glory, oh, the enormity of God? How often do we overlook Him and His gloriousness because we’re busy rushing through our lives, or so caught up in the flesh with our lusts, buried in our earthly treasures and pleasures, or our moaning, complaining, self-pitying, prideful, self-righteous, arrogant, worrying demeanors and attitudes, in the cares and sins of our flesh, that we miss the Lord’s splendid lordship, kingship, breathtaking loveliness? But how utterly, eternally, immeasurably praiseworthy is the Lord! Oh, how much I have missed, the amazing praises in this very moment, this breath, this step! The Holy Spirit is waking me, awakening me, showing me what I have not seen, helping me hear what I haven’t heard, to see, acknowledge, know, love, praise, and worship God forever. There is no greater amazing praise than that Jesus Christ died on the cross so all who repent, believe in and follow Him can have a forever relationship with God. This is just the start. The amazing praises that Christ’s followers are so blessed to witness and partake of henceforth are endless – beginning with God’s everlasting LOVE!