Your Daily Devotional for November 4, 2006

 

November 4, 2006

 

 

Giving Thanks: Through Singing Praise

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

“And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.”

 

 

Ezra 3:11

 

I once read an article about a man who praised God for his unusual circumstances. It said, “When the devastating floods came to Mozambique last March, families were separated as they fled from the rising waters. The death toll rose as the floods receded and bodies that had been submerged were discovered. Some counts were in the thousands. One Mozambique minister named Samuel Naftal gave thanks to God and mosquitoes for saving his life.

As Samuel Naftal, along with sixteen other people, clung tightly to the limbs of trees for two days, he began to preach. All of them hoped his preaching would keep them alert to their surroundings. They listened and watched as furniture, televisions, and dead cows floated by. Then the mosquitoes began swarming around them, repeatedly biting them. Naftal testified, ‘I thank God for those mosquitoes because they kept me from falling asleep. If we had fallen asleep we would have been carried away by the water.’ He and the others hung on and were finally able to wade to safety as the waters began to recede.”

It's not often that we are thankful for something like mosquitoes. They've ruined a lot of fun times outside on a summer night. (We sometimes wonder if it was really necessary that they had a place on Noah's ark.) This story reminds me of another person who was thankful for an insect.

Corrie Ten Boom, the well-known Dutch watchmaker who helped to hide Jews in her house during the Holocaust in Europe, was arrested and sent to a Nazi concentration camp. She too found it hard to find anything good about her desperate situation. But her sister Betsie found a hidden blessing. She thanked God for the fleas that tormented them each day. Fleas? Miserable fleas? Yes. The imprisoned women discovered that the presence of the fleas kept the guards away from their barracks and away from their ultimate torment. It was a blessing wrapped up in a hardship.”

How could these people sing praise to God even though they were being tormented by these pests? It came from a heart of thanksgiving. Not only did they sing praises to God when the money was flowing in and when everything was going well, they praised God when it seemed as if everything around them was going wrong.

When we praise God even when life is going well, we will be able to praise Him when problems arise in our life. How are you at praising God when all is going well? How are you at praising Him during trials and troubles? Even when heartache comes your way, make it a point to find something good in the situation. Ask God to help you find the good in every situation and to sing praise to Him at all times!

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