A POSITIVE PRAISE POST

By Brian Whyte

I was inspired the other day when I read some personal accounts on a friend’s blog on the subject of praising God for His goodness in spite of daily problems and annoyances. It made me stop to think. (That’s always good!)

Generally, I am a thankful person. I post inspirational stories on my blog or send them to friends and family by email to share with them the good things that happen in my life. Still, after all these years, I wasn’t in the habit of praising God for even the “bad” things—“giving thanks always for all things to God” (Ephesians 5:20). I also wasn’t in the habit of looking for the good in everything.

But after I read my friend’s post I was reminded that the little daily things—a sandwich, a shower, a sunset, an encouraging word from a friend, a walk—are all events that are worthy of praise and thanksgiving. And what’s more, these things have the ability to catapult me into sheer, overjoyous (I made up that word) bliss. That’s quite a thought!

Previously I’d always waited for a “biggie” before I would become ecstatic—like the first time I flew on an airplane as a child, or when I attend a gathering with tons of friends, or the day I will meet my future wife or become a father or find buried treasure on a South Sea island. But that’s a lot of waiting and a lot of missed chances to be ecstatic when I could and should be truly happy and thankful to God, even if I’m just eating breakfast in the morning or receiving an email from my mom.

That’s easier said than done, you might say—and you’d be totally right. But the cool thing about reading my friend’s post was that it clicked with me that I could indeed be grateful for the same things that she was and instantly adopt the same “gratitude attitude.” See, once you start, it becomes automatic.

So let me remember my own words when I’m stuck in downtown traffic tomorrow, or when the rain is coming down in torrents and the roads, the sidewalks, and my driveway are all flooded. Those annoyances won’t matter. I can still rejoice and be glad in those times, too, when I determine to see beauty in everything that comes my way and, as an old song says, “Praise the Lord for another day of life.”