Finding The Praise

What prevents you from praising God? 

I was listening to a song the other day by Christian EDM artist, Owl City, called "Bird With A Broken Wing" in which it mentions that everyone has a life-anthem and his is "the anthem of a bird with a broken wing." And then it hit me as I listened...

Even a bird with a broken wing can still sing. And just maybe a soul ripped in two can still praise. Can still bless. Can still find a song from the depths...even if it is just a broken hallelujah. 

Probably one of the greatest masters at this was the ancient King David. When I skim the Psalms (of which he wrote many), I find a man often at his most desperate place, crying out to God for help, for strength, for justice, and so much more. And I find a musician who is trying to discover a way to praise even in the darkest moments. And I keep seeing a pattern he establishes of: tell God your problem - pour out your soul and pierce the darkness with your prayers for divine assistance - then shift your focus and tell yourself, "for I will yet praise Him who is the help of my countenance and my God" (Psalm 43:5). 

There is always a "but God..." to be had in all of our circumstances. A reversal of our focus from the situation and how we feel about it to the concrete truth of God's abiding presence and love which must draw forth our thanks-giving, even when it is hardest to do so. There is no experience so bad that God's goodness is not greater, wider, deeper. There is no trial so harsh that the purposes of God aren't still working and we are not still cared for. This shift in our attention is paramount to whether or not we can find our praise in the dark. 

Some of the greatest poems or books ever written, some of the best songs ever penned or sung, were breathed out of a broken heart. The moments of failed dreams, dashed hopes, numerous questions, desperation, and losing faith reveal the deepest beliefs (false or true) that we have and expose us in ways that prosperity never can. When we cry to God from these depths, when we speak truth to ourselves when all we have are doubts, when we make the choice to reach for His hand in the dark, God will use these prayers to create something beautiful from our sorrow. God will hear these cries and will collect our tears. And somehow, by His grace, a message of Light may come out of our darkest hours. 


Perhaps you have a song inside just waiting to be brought forth, and perhaps adversity is the only thing that can pull it out of you. A song that you don't presently as yet know may be birthed out of your soul in a time at present or in the future when the workings of Providence weigh on you hard. In that season, think of the bird with a broken wing. Although your heart may be torn quite open and you may be wounded deeply, there's still some blessing, some gratitude, some thanks-giving to be found. There's still a "but God..." somewhere. 

That being true...

What truly prevents you from praising God?!

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