Things Could Always Be Worse...

Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

Psalm 50:15

Despite the ups and downs that you may face or encounter; the words which come from your lips should be words of thanksgiving unto the Lord… The devotion calls for us to remember that things can always be worse; when facing storms in your life, you must get to the point where you are able to smile because of the ability that you have to feel the rain… There are so many people who would love to go through the things which you are going through; however, the path which they are traveling calls for a different storm for them to face… I make this point because we all encounter storms, there is no life paved from the womb to the gates of heaven which will not subject you to storms during your travel… This is why you have to be thankful; you can thank God in the midst of your storms because you know that you will come out of them and the water which has fallen will simply provide the nutrients needed for the seed which God planted in you to sprout… There is a purpose to the trials you face and this is why the writer goes on to say, pay thy vows unto the most High… Don’t hold back because of the things you face; as a matter of fact, give even more when the trials become that much more intense… There are people learning from your walk of faith and you too will be exalted because God will definitely show His faithfulness when you adhere to His calling despite the obstacles which are before you… Make no mistake about it, I will deliver thee; says the Lord… You will exalt His name; in other words, you will look back on all that you dealt with in the past and offer up thanksgiving unto the Lord when you see the end result of your perseverance and endurance… You will thank Him because the things which you suffered won’t compare to the blessings you receive… I believe Paul said it best in his letter to the Church of Rome, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” Paul new that the latter would be better than the former; this is why we give God thanksgiving… He is about to bestow blessings upon you that you don’t deserve and there is nothing you can endure on this earth to deserve them… This message also speaks to the fact that when we pray to God, we must go to Him with thanksgiving instead of complaints… When we look to God, we often approach His throne in a backwards manner… We call upon the name of the Lord when we are in despair or in dire need of His help; however, we are reminded by the psalmist today that we are to “Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High…” Let us approach the through of God for the things that He has already done, giving Him thanks and praising His name for His goodness, His mercy and His grace… Don’t’ lose sight of the fact that God has kept you and allowed you to see this day, don’t lose sight of the fact that without Him you are nothing and wouldn’t even be here today… Some of us have gotten into the habit (I’m speaking about myself) of making vows to God and not following through and then expecting Him to answer when we pray because we have fallen short… As a child of God we must keep our covenant to the Lord, we must have a heart that desires to do right and a mind that is focused on Him…

When we do these things, when we thank Him for allowing us to see another day, when we thank Him for the roof over our heads and the clothes on our backs, we than will keep our vows to be vessels that He can use… After these steps are taken then we are able to do the second part of this verse which says, “And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” God promises to deliver you from your current situation, He promises that you will see better days; He promises that your present suffering will not outweigh the weight of glory that you will receive… These promises are recorded all throughout His word; however, the key to unlocking these promises lies in being grateful unto the Lord despite what you face or encounter… The psalmist said that we are to offer thanksgiving unto the Lord… So many of us loss sight of God’s manifold blessings by focusing our attention on the present situation… We are reminded today that no matter what has taken place in our lives, or where we are in life, we must have an attitude of gratitude toward the Lord… You may not be where you want to be right now, but you should be thankful that you have a home to go to, a job to work and blood flowing within your veins… You may not have a lot of money saved up, but you should be thankful that God has given you enough provisions to take care of the bills you have right now… Pay thy vows to the most High, give all that you have unto the Lord and He will give all that He has unto you (which far outweighs what you have to offer Him)… When you are in the midst of confusion CALL ON HIM, when your body is racked with pain CALL ON HIM, when your children are going astray CALL ON HIM, when your in the middle of a storm and don’t know how to handle it CALL ON HIM… However, don’t forget when He delivers on your prayer; don’t forget when He makes a way out of no way… Give Him praise for His goodness, give Him praise for His mercy, and give Him praise for answering your prayers… He is your answer to every situation; He is your door to eternal life and freedom from worries, troubles, and pain. Just call on the name of Jesus for your answer. But, remember that when He answers your prayers, that you give Him ALL the Glory and Honor…Take a moment or a second to analyze your life… Think not of the bad things, but the good things that have come about in your life… Look at the people around you right now; there is always someone who would love to be in your shoes… The bible tells us that we are to do all things without murmurings and disputes, as a child of God we are called to remain silent in our everyday situation, knowing and believing that God is working in us and through us… In the time of trouble we have a (n) advocate in Christ Jesus who is making intercessions on our behalf… God will be glorified, He will receive honor, He will be praised… Knowing this lets me know that He won’t allow me to suffer beyond measure, He won’t allow me to face obstacles I can’t overcome, and He won’t’ allow me to be pushed beyond the edge of the cliff… This and only this is the reason why we praise Him, if the devil had his way, we would all perish and be cast into hell right now, but because of God’s love and mercy we are alive and daily receive new provisions from above… The bible records that “…His mercies are new every morning… Great is thy faithfulness...” Be thankful at all times, even when you are going through misfortune, because you know the misfortune won’t last always… This in and of itself is a blessing; one that we indeed should praise and honor God for…

BE BLESSED!!!