I am thankful to the Lord for his protection. Many of my followers know my testimony that God has preserved me from going through unnecessary drama in relationships. He has preserved me from having to be a babymama, and given me wisdom and discernment to acquire his best. Something that he offers to everyone who will follow him.
Just recently, I had met a brother online who I’ve followed for years. During, our first conversation his character and lack of preparation to be an appropriate spouse was revealed immediately. In fact, he was the type of guy, who would be abusive, controlling, and domineering to a woman. All of that was exposed immediately through his conversation. That is the goodness of God at work showing me not to enter a relationship with him and that moving forward with this particular individual would be moving in the wrong direction.
God has always protected me when I’ve been interested in men, and men interested in me. God has been there for me tremendously. He healed my daddy issues prior to marriage so that I would not take those negative things into a relationship. All of the hardships that I did have to walk through; God has walked through with me. I was never alone, and I am still here in sound mind and hope for the future only because the Lord has built me up. God built me up with his word and his presence. Truly, he is our everything.
What is the point of all of this? The point is to learn to be thankful when things aren’t going the way that we would like for them to go. There is always something to be thankful for. Sometimes being thankful will be a sacrifice. I absolutely adore Psalms 56:12 that says:
I will fulfill my vows to you, O God, and will offer a sacrifice of thanks for your help. – NIV
David in the midst of going through hardship, people talking about him, and pressure on every side decided not to give up, but to continue his faithfulness toward the Lord, and offer thanksgiving to God even though it was hard.
There will be times where it will get so hard as a believer where everything around us will appear to be going in an unexpected way. However, those times are when we are to offer the sacrifice of praise. Sacrifice meaning: something that isn’t easy to give, and something that really affects us. The sacrifice may even be very painful. That is what makes it a sacrifice, but we decide to offer it to the Lord anyway because the Lord is good.
David not only offered to the Lord the sacrifice of praise, but he thanked the Lord for what he had promised even though it had not been manifested yet.
I praise God for what he has promised; yes, I praise the Lord for what he has promised. Psalms 56:10 (NIV)
his is the character that God wants to bring forth in us his people. This character says no matter what it looks like, I will not deny the Lord. I will continue to offer my sacrifice of praise to the Lord. I will continue to reverence and fear the Lord for who he is. For one, we do not give our lives to God for what he does, but for who he is and what he already has done.
There were times where I’ve felt like I was being a bad example for dedicating my life to the Lord and his will encouraging singles and yet not having any fruit in the form of a godly relationship with a man. However, I have come to the realization that the lessons that I have learned along the way through enduring with God and his plan are far better than the fruit of simply having a man.
As a matter of fact, because of the way that the Lord has done things in my life; my expectation now is far greater than what it used to be. I believe my thinking was too small in believing God to produce the desire that he put in me for a spouse. God will bring his promise of a spouse to me, and so much more.
yes have not seen. Ears have not heard. Neither has it entered into the heart of men what God has prepared for those who love him, but he has revealed it by his Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:9
What God has in mind for me is far greater, and my character, discernment, and intimacy with him needed to be so developed in order to handle where he is taking me. I write this to encourage those who have been consistent and faithful in walking with the Lord, and still have not yet seen their desire come to pass.
Know that your desire will come to pass. That is the easy part. The hard part is enduring to allow the character God desires to be birthed in us; while experiencing the disappointment of how things appear again and again, and yet still saying that God is good. This is the sacrifice of praise believing God despite what it looks like, and this is how we please God through faith.
Republished with permission from Blogs.crossmap.com, featuring inspiring Bible verses about The Sacrifice of Praise: – Intercession For A Generation Blog.
