Praising God Through the Pain | Deciding to Worship

Praising God Through the Pain of Your Circumstance

How could this happen? I remember that feeling of my world collapsing all around me. How could God have led my husband and I to this place, only to desert us?

I know it sounds as if we were questioning God and perhaps we were. I just couldn’t wrap my mind around the feeling that we had followed God’s lead only to get to a certain point, look around and realize that He was nowhere to be found. This is how it felt.

We had climbed our way up a long, rugged mountain only to be pushed back into the depths of the valley, even lower than where we first began.

The Feeling of Pain

This wasn’t the first time that we had felt pain, but this was the first time that we had felt blindsided. I know pain. I know what it feels like to endure hard circumstances. But I had always felt the precious Hand of God over the situation.

To feel an insurmountable amount of pain and then to feel as though God were nowhere to be found for help and guidance, that was new. It felt as though I were standing at a crossroad and looking around for a clear sign of help or a guiding hand only to find nothing. But you must understand that God had a purpose and plan for even this.

The Feeling of Bitterness

I couldn’t see it then, I was blinded by the pain and the bitterness that tried to creep in. And maybe you feel just this way. As though you aren’t supposed to question why you are going through this circumstance but you are wondering where exactly this pain is supposed to lead you.

The gut-wrenching moment that you are faced with reality only to find your world silent and with no help at all. I’m writing this because it’s real. We all face this at times but nobody wants to talk about it.

So there I was dealing with the pain and the devil tries to sneak his way in. I could literally feel bitterness trying to work its way into my heart over the circumstances we had been dealt and the fact that I searched for God and could not find Him. But I wouldn’t allow it. I could not allow that bitterness to take over my life and take control.

Choosing to Praise

I realized that I had a choice to make. I could either make the choice to become bitter and hateful, or I could choose to understand that God still deserved praise and glory regardless of what I was going through at this particular time in my life.

I had to stand up firm and make myself realize that God is a sovereign God and He would never leave me, no matter how silent He chose to be in that moment. There was a moment that I remember so clearly when I made the choice to praise through my pain!

I was sitting in church and I felt the feeling of bitterness trying to come back. I sat there and told myself “You have got to make a decision. This is something you have to deal with now.” I pushed past the thoughts that were racing through my mind and I decided to worship God with all that I had within me. No matter how spiritually weak I was, it was beautiful in His sight.

At that time, I was so spiritually weak. I felt like just the smallest amount of adoration to God took the most energy. I felt that because of the feelings I had that I was unworthy to praise Him. But I pressed on. I did it anyway. When I continued to do this over time, I began to gain the spiritual strength that I needed.

From that moment on, bitterness left me and I began to fight for my relationship with God. Even though I could not feel Him, even though I had no direction whatsoever, I chose to praise Him anyhow. Deciding to worship through my troubles and praising God through the pain was the best thing I could have done.

So I come to you and tell you that you may be going through the worst trial that you have ever been in and you may not feel God, but that doesn’t mean that He isn’t there. This will be a time when the devil will try every tactic to push you even further into the depths of sin that he can. Don’t allow him this opportunity. Rise within and begin to praise God through the pain of your circumstance.

Yes, it still hurt. I still felt pain. I still wondered where my Mighty God was. I still had all of these questions running through my mind. But slowly and surely, God began putting the pieces back together. He picked me up from where I was and showed me just how strong He knew I could be in such circumstances.

Many years later, God did reveal to me why my husband and I went through such a trying time. And I am ever so thankful that I chose to continue to praise through the pain I was going through. I am so thankful that I did not allow bitterness to instill itself in my heart.

Sweet sister, do not lose hope. You may be weak in your spirit, but underneath the pain, there is a fire that still burns. Press on and find your hope in God again.

You might also like to read:

Understanding Jehovah and Walking Through the Fire