My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises!  Psalms 57:7

How many of us have exited a church service, retreat, or special quiet time with spiritual euphoria? Let’s face it… it is easy to fall in love with mountain top experiences. Giants are easy to face when we are spiritually pumped. But, this verse is about being steadfast, fixed, or established. It is about making a commitment and establishing a routine or habit the rest of our lives. Everybody enjoys praising God when life is going well. Let a little bit of bad news arrive and most believers hit a sour note.

Someone once said of a true believer, “There is no such thing as bad news.” How can this be? I didn’t think 2013 would ever end without more ill news.

For a real believer… one whose heart is fixed on the Lord and knows the impact of praise… all news (good and bad) is merely an opportunity for growth. The truth is if you have receive a little bad news, God knows you are ready for it.

The Christian life is more like an obstacle course than a sprint or marathon. But how many believers expect little or no opposition in their race? Most are absolutely dumbfounded when difficulties arise. The truth is … if we are growing, God knows He can trust us with greater opposition. If we plan for obstacles and difficulties, we can rejoice when we meet little resistance, rather than planning for no resistance and meeting difficulties. Wrong expectations will suck the praise right off our lips.

In the end, God is going to pass out rewards for “overcoming”, not for “avoiding”. God cannot reward us if we never overcome! We need to stop asking God for the hurdles in life to be removed. We need to ask the Lord for more hurdles. The Lord wants to move us from “glory to glory.”

In 2014, may praise continually be in our mouths.

Blessings – From God’s Incubator,

Pastor