Sometimes we have been knocked around and feel like we are on the ropes with no way out. We’ve taken blow after blow, faced storm after storm, endured trial after trial and the enemy is telling us we might as well give up and put up the white flag of surrender. There is power, however, when you know that you have taken your opponents best shot and he still has not knocked you out of the fight! When we praise God in spite of our circumstance, God has a habit of showing up and showing out in our life.
2 Chronicles 20:14-15
14 Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation;
15 And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
When it seemed that the situation was all hopeless, God told the warriors to get out of the way and the worshippers to get in position. We try to fight the battle with our intellect, our weapons and our battle plans, when God is looking for worshippers not warriors.
Walter Hawkins wrote a song titled “When the Battle is Over”
Don’t wait ’till the battle is over to shout now,
You know in the end, you’re gonna win.
One of these mornings, it won’t be very long,
You’re gonna look for me and I’ll be goin’ home.
The Church can never be defeated when we are worshipping God for the victory before we’ve even finished the battle!
2 Corinthians 4:6-9
6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
There is power when you know that you have taken your opponents best shot and he still has not knocked you out of the fight! Some of us have been knocked around and feel like we are on the ropes with no way out.
We’ve taken blow after blow, storm after storm, trial after trial and the enemy is telling us we might as well give up and put up the white flag of surrender. The reason he is trying so hard to intimidate us is that he knows if we can begin to worship God:
- In spite of what we see around us
- In spite of how we feel
- In spite of what our “so called” friends are telling us
- In spite of the roar of the thunder
- In spite of the flashing of the lightening
- In spite of our job status
- In spite of the doctors’ report
- When our marriages are under attack
- When our bodies are wracked with pain
- When we feel depressed or oppressed
Worshipping our way through the storms of life will change us first, then we will see God change our situation.