Still I will praise

 

Just over a month ago I attended an amazing women’s conference for women in The Salvation Army called Riverbank. It was a beautiful weekend of teaching, challenge, fun and friendship and there were so many highlights. Throughout the weekend there were a number of thread that God wove within it. It wove through the speakers and the worship, and was incredibly powerful.

 One of these threads was the truth that we can still praise God in the midst of the darkest times. From the frist evening we heard testimony of how people were able to praise God in the midst of trauma and difficulty. This ran through the entire weekend with person after person talking about praising God in the difficult places and finding comfort, power and joy through it all. Each person declared "Still I will praise!"

 One of the most powerful moments of the entire conference was on the Saturday morning when our amazing and anointed worship leader sang one of her songs. The song, ‘Still I will praise’ talks about worshipping God in hard times and beautifully paints the picture of what a sacrifice of praise is. You can hear the song HERE and I encourage you to do so and allow the words to permeate your soul. The words say: 

Sometimes a song feels so costly

And worship takes all that I have

In seasons of life where it's hard to see

And hard to understand

That you are still God in the wilderness

You are still God in the pain

You are the God that is with me

When all else is stripped away

Still I will praise

Still will praise

Even in this oh Lord

Still I will praise

So sweet is the song I can only sing

Here in the barren place

How tender the praise I can only give

Here in my earthly pain

When my heart is broken in pieces

And I don't have much to bring

With all I have left I will worship

Give you this offering

Still I will praise

Still will praise

Even in this oh Lord

Even in this I will trust you

Even in this I will love

Even in this you are faithful

Even in this you are God

Even when I cannot see you

Even when I feel so lost

Even then you are still faithful

Even then you'll still be God

One day I'll see you in glory,

You'll wipe every tear away

I will no longer remember

The pain I feel today

And in the light of forever

Face to face with my God

I will know I have always been

Held in the arms of love

As Lucy sang this song the presence of the Holy Spirit was tangible as women  resonated with the truths being sung. For me, it really spoke to me as I felt like I was in a season where the decision to praise was a costly one and my circumstances seemed to indicate that I had every reason to feel sorry for myself! 

This message of praise and joy in the darkest of times continued through to the Saturday evening as we laughed through Steve Legg’s magic and comedy routine! In the midst of a facinating routine, Steve spoke about his diagnosis of terminal cancer and how is continuing to praise God in the uncertainty. He clearly chooses joy and it was a challenge for each of us to choose joy too. 

On the Sunday morning we heard another testimony of choosing to praise God in the inbetween, that we can trust in God in the wait, and use it as an opportunity to grow Closer to God and know his goodness for ourselves. 

This truth of choosing to praise in the midst of difficulty is one that has followed me since the conference and I have often returned to Lucy Grimble’s song to remind me of it. Today God is challenging each of us to consider where do you, where do I still need to praise God, in spite of the circumstances, in spite of the diagnosis, in spite of the predictions. We have the ability to continue to rejoice in the Lord, regardless of what our situation might look like in the natural. Can we, like Habakkuk declares in chapter 3:17-19, be joyful in God our saviour?

“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines,

though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, 

though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,

yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my saviour. 

The sovereign Lord is my strength;

he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.”