Skip to main content

Pout or Praise...Featuring Diana Dobbs



I woke up last Friday with James 1 swirling in my head:

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."

I didn't realize how much that verse would really mean to me that day. See, I had just had to leave my new job after two separate episodes of anaphylaxis. (Severe allergic reaction). I was allergic to something at my work place. So, I lost my paycheck and my benefits for myself and my children.

This just topped off a string of things going on in my life right now. As I said, I woke up with this scripture on Friday morning, about an hour before they called to tell me that Worker's Comp was NOT going to pay for my time off and medications, etc. Now, I'm going to keep it real here-- Was my first reaction to praise the Lord or was my first reaction to stress and wonder what I was going to do? If you guessed stress out, you would be correct. I went with my NATURAL response.

So, as I was lying in my bed with five thousands thoughts running through my head, the Lord brought back to my mind, the scripture I had woken up with; James 1. Then it was brought to my Spirit, "Why are you having a NATURAL response, when you should be having a SUPERNATURAL response?" Why are you whining about what your going to do? How are you going to make it?" When you know the Word, and the Word says, "I've been young and now I am old, and I have NEVER seen the righteous forsaken, nor their children begging for bread." (Psalm 37:25). That "We are MORE than conquerers through Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:37). I knew where HE was going with this.......

Where I was having my "natural" response, the Lord immediately reminded me, that I should ALWAYS have a "supernatural" response ready. God's Word should always be at the tip of my tongue, ready for any and all circumstances that arise. Knowing that there is nothing that has happened that he didn't already know, and already have an answer for!!! His Word says, "He'll make a way where this is no way."That NOTHING is impossible with Him."
So, instead of my being down and stressing myself out, I should have immediately starting praising the Lord. Not FOR the situation, but knowing that IN that situation, He was with me. His Word says He will never leave us nor forsake us!! "That many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord shall deliver us out of them ALL.

" Jeremiah 29:11 states, " I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a HOPE."

When we react with a "natural" response, we only stress ourselves. We can stress ourselves right into a migraine or a stomachache or anxiety and depression. But when we supernaturally respond, we are responding with Praise, and when we respond with praise, we are confessing our belief in what the Word says about our situations, which leads us to hope and peace, even in the middle of our storm!

Philippians 4:4-7 states:
"Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS, again I say rejoice. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in EVERYTHING by prayer and supplication WITH thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the PEACE of God, which surpasses all understanding, will GUARD your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus!"

Lastly, one of my favorites; James 5:11 - "For we have all heard of the perseverance of Job, and seen the end INTENDED by the Lord, that the Lord is compassionate and merciful."

He knows the beginning to the end. He knows what we have need of before we have need of it. He is faithful, He cannot lie. He will do what He says He will do..... and what he desires from us is our praise. So I have made a conscious decision to meet all of life's ups and downs with a SUPERNATURAL RESPONSE OF PRAISE!!

And where I know this is not some big new revelation... I sure did need to be reminded of it! : )
God is good and his mercy endureth forever!


In Him,
Diana

Comments

  1. Yes, His mercy does indeed endureth forever!! Great post!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I absolutely love the way He prepares us for what's ahead. It's true...Father does know best! Nice post!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Diana, James is great at putting our lives into right perspective. I'll be praying for you.
    God bless
    Tracy

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Your Sweet Comments Are Loved~

Popular posts from this blog

Touching The Hem Of His Garment

It's day 6 of my 21 day fast and I have discovered just how much I have relied on social media for my daily encouragement. It's so easy , one click of my mouse and it's there for me to see. A short cut of sorts, a quick fix in a world , my world, that is constantly moving and changing. But when I dig into my daddy Gods word, when I take the time to seek Him, the encouragement is more....So much more. Today I am encouraged by the woman who suffered with the issue of blood. For 12 years she suffered a life of misery and in her culture was considered  unclean. It was a chronic condition which means she probably had anemia as well as  physical weakness. She was hopelessly incurable by the many doctors she had sought out for medical care. She had become destitute for she spent all that she had. Everything and everyone who she would come in contact with would have become ceremonially unclean making her shunned by all in society including her family. Her husband probably

Sifting Before the Shifting

I have been hearing the Lord say " shift" for the last year.  Shift in the atmosphere, shift in our nation, shift in the church, and a shift in me.  When I think about the word shift, I see a grand swope of the hand of God moving all into a direction of peace and wholeness.I believe without a doubt He is doing so, however I never once entertained the though He'd have to do some sifting.... sifting in me. Sifting is a process, a two part process, when sifting wheat. First comes the threshing, the beating of the grain using a flail. Second part is the winnowing, throwing the mixture in the air allowing the wind to blow away the lighter chaffs and the heavier grains to fall back down for recovery.  I take a closer look at this process and begin to meditate on how it applies to my life. The threshing  is the process of removal; removing those things which will cause me to stumble.When God begins to remove, He does so with the intent of replacing; replacing with those

When My Puzzle Pieces Do Not Fit

    Putting a puzzle together can be fun, enjoyable and somewhat a relaxing time when the pieces all fit correctly the first time.  However when it is a puzzle with thousands of little pieces that require a great deal of time trying to figure out what piece goes where it can become frustrating, at least for me. Many times I have had to rely on the box top picture to navigate me through the placing of each piece and even that process can be irritating. Eventually the pieces do all fit exactly the way they were created to fit and the perfect picture is formed.It is a victory of sorts for me as patience is not my best quality.  But what about when our life's pieces are not fitting together? I had this certain picture I created in my mind, a picture how my own pieces were to fit together, my perfect box top per say. However the pieces I chose I could not force them to fit. No matter how I placed them, pushed them together, they still would not connect. My box top picture was