Outside my bedroom window is a tall birch tree.
It stretches its white-barked arms high toward heaven. Right beside it stands a cherry tree. It dwarfs in comparison to the birch–only half its height–the dark branches bowing their humble heads. But the cherry tree is dazzling white with blossoms, the promise of summer’s bounty. Below both of these trees is … dirt. The dirt isn’t doing much at all. No blossoms, no beautiful branches stretched high. But I’m sure glad the dirt is there! And the dirty is doing exactly what it was made to do. Being dirt.
And praising God.
Psalm 148 tell us how everything brings God praise:
Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise him in the heights above.
Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars.
Praise him, you highest heavens
and you waters above the skies.Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for at his command they were created,
and he established them for ever and ever—
he issued a decree that will never pass away.Praise the Lord from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
stormy winds that do his bidding,
you mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
wild animals and all cattle,
small creatures and flying birds,
kings of the earth and all nations,
you princes and all rulers on earth,
young men and women,
old men and children.Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.
And he has raised up for his people a horn,
the praise of all his faithful servants,
of Israel, the people close to his heart.Praise the Lord.
The birch tree out my window is praising the Lord. The cherry tree is too, and so is the dirt. How? By being and doing exactly what God created it to be and do. Simple. No stress, no striving, no jealousy or competition. Just rest, life … praise.Could it be the same for us?
You don’t have to be like her.
You don’t have to have a ministry like hers.
You don’t have to have a house like hers.
You don’t have to have kids like hers.
You don’t have to take to your bed in sorrow when the world tells you you’re dirt.
Even dirt can praise God.
It brings God praise when we exult in, rest in, rejoice in, who He made us to be. As He allows painful trials, it isn’t that He’s destroying us, He’s simply helping us become more of who He made us to be. More ourselves. More fully able to bring Him praise.
Who are you?
Sacred Mundane. Today He created me to love one man and two little squirrels. To clean the bathroom, read books about bugs, and write a few words in between. That’s how I’ll bring Him praise today…
What about you? By simply being and doing what He created you to be and do, How will you bring Him praise today?
14 thoughts on “How to really bring Him praise…”
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starting to think that god is trying to tell me something – second devotional today on jealousy – and i don’t even consider myself a jealous person – but i probably wrestle more with it’s twin, desire for what i don’t have…
so today, i’m praising him by working diligently, by going to the gym and taking care of my body, by eating well, by praising him for the beautiful weather we’re experiencing here, and by spending time with our homegroup tonight.
thanks for this.
Ah…love it when God makes it clear what it is He’s wanting to say. I’m so glad this could be timely, Brie. I pray your day WAS perfectly bringing Him praise by being the wonderful Brie He made you to be! Bless you, friend.
Beautiful reminder of the peace only God can bring when we praise Him by being all He has called us to be – so simple. Love it. Thank God that He has inspired you to write as you do.
Thank you, Anna. Bless you as you are your beautiful self today!
Beautiful… Thank you for the perspective…
As I shared with my FB friends:
Today I will praise Him by giggling with, & loving on my Baby Boy; tending to the humble home He’s blessed us with; caring for my temple (the body He designed just for me); and bringing a smile to the faces of friends & strangers alike…
May seem insignificant to the world, but He delights in every moment I spend “praising” Him!
Blessings to you today! xoxo
Amen and amen!!! Love this. Thank you for sharing!
Oh I needed this this morning. Thank you Kari. The word of the day is rest. Not in as in lazing around my house doing nothing at all….but rest of the mind from the million things I feel like I should be doing….and the million things I am already doing that I feel like I could do better. Really there is one thing to do, and I do it best when my mind is resting: praise Him.
Amen, Cayly! We all need this, don’t we? So much busyness, so much striving. Rest. Be. Look up. I pray your day was full of this. Bless you girl.
I’m at the tail-end (Lord willing) of one of those painful trials where God is making me more myself, who he created me to be, so I am more fully able to bring Him praise. I’m praising God by learning I am a human being not a human doing and learning to rest in who I am because of who Christ is and what He has already done, not because of anything I have done or need to do!
Woohoo! Preach it, Heather! Well said. I do pray you are on the tail-end as well. 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing this. Such great stuff…I’m letting your words soak in to my heart.
Amazing the beauty that can come from dirt and tiny seeds…and what an amazing variety of it. Right now I’m in a phase where I’m focusing much more on crafting words than on crafting tangible things for my home or for friends. While I LOVE all that, I have to accept my limitations and admire others’ handiwork while I focus on writing, my particular creative call.
Oh girl, yes. Yes yes yes. I am there with you. SO much has to be let go of, yes? I look around sometime and see this: lack, lack, lack. But we pour our hearts into crafting words and tending our littles. Thanks for sharing this. Bless you, fellow writer sister!
SOOO good, darling. Mom
Thank you, Mama. You do this.