Continual Praise

“I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” ESV Psalm 34:1

It is so very easy to be thankful to God when things are going your way; when life is rocking along according to plans. But it can be terribly difficult to have thanksgiving in your heart when times are difficult or when the best plans go amiss or simply when our expectations are not met.

This past week I spent some time visiting with a missionary family in India. Anybody who’s been on a trip like that knows that it pays to be flexible. Ironically, anybody who knows me well knows that flexibility isn’t one of my strong points. But that’s beside the point. The point is that with international travel life is less stressful when you are flexible.

While I was gone I happened upon Psalm 34 and as I studied this first verse I began to wonder how less stressful life would be if I could live out this verse in every circumstance. How much less stress would each day hold if I offered continual praise to God? How much less stress would each day hold if I praised the Lord at all times?

It is a long, long way to India so I was truly thankful when the nice lady at Royal Dutch Airlines placed me in excellent seats for the two long portions of my flight over. But I confess that I did not have praise in my heart when I was asked to give up one of those seats so that a traveling couple would not be separated. Now I didn’t quibble over the request for even a moment, but I was not immediately thankful for the opportunity to accommodate a fellow traveler either.

On the return flight, my seats were even better and I was truly thankful to have an aisle seat the whole way home. But I was less thankful for the company of the person sitting in the window seat that was undoubtedly battling a common travel ailment; she must have gotten up once per hour. But in hindsight, I needed to stretch my tired legs about that often anyway.

At this point you might legitimately ask, “How trivial is an airplane flight in the big scheme of things?” I’d have to confess that it is very trivial in the big scheme of things. But remember, the smallest packages sometimes contain the nicest gifts and it is in the smallest details that our faith is polished and refined.

In the parable of the minas in Luke 19, the nobleman rewards faithful servants exponentially; cities in exchange for minas. In similar fashion, I think our lives speak loudest in the simplest things. Does your life and attitude betray a heart full of continual praise?

Lord, enable us to be faithful in the smallest details of life. Enable us to continually give praise to you in all situations so that your name might be glorified by our lifestyle.